FREE

STACEY HYDE
STACEY HYDE IS NOT A MURDERER
The Criminal Justice System is failing to ensure that all are equal before the law. Help us challenge Staceys conviction, to make sure that the Criminal Justice System recognises the abuse that women and girls suffer, instead of punishing them for it.
In the early hours of 4th September 2009, Stacey Hyde remembers waking up to hear her friend Holly screaming for help. In the frightening events that followed, which Stacey does not clearly remember, Stacey stabbed and killed her friend Hollys partner Vince Francis. When the police arrived Stacey was very distressed, sobbing and saying he tried to kill meI had to help Hollyhe was going to kill herI thought he would kill me. She was found to have injuries, some of which were consistent with previous self-harm, and some of which were consistent with a forceful struggle with Vince. Stacey was only 17 at the time of the offence, Vince was twice her age, and it was acknowledged by the prosecution that there had been 27 separate incidents of domestic violence between him and Holly, and that he had also been violent towards his previous girlfriend. A 999 call made at the time of the incident records Holly screaming, my boyfriend is beating my friend I need the police ASAP. She is then heard saying they are ghting, and then she is heard screaming that Stacey has a knife and has stabbed him. SUPPORT STACEY ATTEND OUR PUBLIC MEETING November 2ND, 3pm-5pm Garden Court Chambers, 57-60 Lincolns Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LJ Learn more about Staceys case, and how it reects wider issues for women in the Criminal Justice System

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FREE STACEY HYDE

On the 8th March 2010, at the age of only 18, Stacey was convicted of murdering Vince Francis, and sentenced to life imprisonment. This is a miscarriage of justice. Stacey is not a murderer. Stacey was tried under an old law that does not allow for the loss of control caused by a fear of serious violence. The law has since changed, (partly as a result of previous campaigns by Justice for Women). If Staceys case had been tried under the new law, she may not have been convicted of murder. Please support Staceys ght for justice. She was a vulnerable adolescent, who had suffered from a history of mental health problems and sexual violence. Her only crime was to react disproportionately, out of fear, to a mans violent attack on her and her friend.

SUPPORT STACEY ATTEND OUR PUBLIC MEETING

November 2ND, 3pm-5pm, Garden Court Chambers, 57-60 Lincolns Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LJ Learn more about Staceys case, and how it reects wider issues for women in the Criminal Justice System
After Staceys conviction, her family contacted Justice for Women, and a new legal team submitted Grounds of Appeal against her conviction. The grounds include fresh evidence from an adolescent psychiatrist that she had ADHD at the time of her offence, in addition to other psychiatric diagnoses resulting from an extremely difcult childhood. These conditions would have substantially impaired her responsibility for the offence. As a result of her ADHD she was extremely vulnerable to peer pressure, and it has also come to light that other prisoners manipulated her to give evidence during her trial in a way that made her come across unsympathetically to the jury. If her condition had been recognised, she would have had assistance from an intermediary at trial that could have prevented this. Her legal team also argue that the judge failed to direct the jury adequately to take into account the provocation she was subjected to. A single judge has refused Stacey permission to appeal her conviction, but her lawyers are renewing the application before the full court (a panel of three judges). This is Staceys last chance to get the justice she deserves. If the appeal is successful, her murder conviction would be substituted with manslaughter, and she should get a determinate sentence which we hope would allow her to be released, as she has already served nearly four years in prison. If we fail at this stage, however, Stacey will have to serve the rest of her sentence for murder. This would be disastrous for Stacey, as she is very vulnerable and is not coping well with prison. It would also mean that even if she were released, she would be on licence for the rest of her life, and could be recalled to prison at any time for even a minor misdemeanour. This case is not just about Stacey, however. The issues that have affected Stacey in her life are issues that typically and disproportionately affect young women today in our society, because of their vulnerability and because of persisting gender inequality. Two days before the killing, Stacey had sought medical help for her mental health problems, but she was not given the help she needed, because she was only deemed to be at risk of harming herself. She had a history of problems with self-harm (including suicide attempts), eating disorders, and low self-esteem. She drank to excess. A few months before the killing, she had undergone a termination of pregnancy. She had also been raped on more than one occasion when drunk. All of these things were documented in her medical records. Too many young women suffer from these problems, but are blamed rather than given assistance to overcome them. The sorts of mental health problems Stacey experienced are typical in many young women, yet they are frequently overlooked or dismissed generally in the criminal justice system, and particularly for the purpose of the partial defences to murder. Eating disorders, self-harm and rape are disproportionately experienced by women. We at Justice for Women believe it is a reection of a male dominated criminal justice system that the signicance of these types of mental health problems is dismissed. In contrast, far too frequently, men are able to successfully use the defence of diminished responsibility because of mental health problems arising from their perceived emasculation by the female partners they kill because they believe they are leaving them or dominating them. One of Justice for Womens early campaigns, to quash the conviction of Emma Humphreys, who killed her violent partner, led to a major change in the law of the partial defence of provocation. It introduced the concept of cumulative provocation which is now part of law. Yet Staceys case demonstrates that there are still huge problems with the way the Criminal Justice System treats young women.

How you can help

Sign the petition in support of Stacey here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/921/553/067/free-stacey-hyde/ Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and check out our campaign blog for updates on the case and campaign events Share Staceys story with people you know Attend our public meeting on November 2ND at Garden Court Chambers

If you want to learn more about the campaign, or nd out more ways to support Stacey, please get in touch with us on freestaceyhyde@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. F: https://www.facebook.com/justiceforwomen T: https://twitter.com/justice4women W: www.justiceforwomen.org.uk Blog: http://freestaceyhyde.wordpress.com/

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