News about the Petition
The petition has reached 3,000 signatures (online and paper) in a short time but we want to get to 5,000 so the closing date is being extended to 31st November 2011.

We hope to get the online petition date extended, in the meantime please request a copy of the petition to download, or a paper copy to be sent to you by post so that we can gather more signatures: request from Linda at justiceforjoe@hotmail.co.uk

Appeal for donations.

Why are some mentally ill patients treated like criminals?  See Thursday's 2nd June Guardian article by Amelia Gentleman. (See all press articles by following the link above)

Please sign online petition by following this link (If you have signed the online petition can you please check that you have verified your signature. The verification email would have automatically been sent to you the day you signed online - it may have gone straight to your spam/trash folder). The is also a second online petition at Change.org

This website has been set up by the family and friends of Joe Paraskeva.

Joe is 20 and suffers from Bipolar Affective Disorder.

On 5th April 2011, at a Crown Court in London, Joe was given an indefinite term of imprisonment, an IPP (Indeterminate imprisonment for Public Protection), the Judge also sentenced him to serve a minimum nominal sentence of 2 years before he could be considered for release by the Parole Board. If the Parole Board decided against allowing his parole, Joe could remain in prison indefinitely, for the rest of his life. (Further details, see below)

Joe was charged with arson by the police on the recommendation of the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service), after he tried to set fire to the door of a psychiatric unit in a hospital, in an attempt to escape. He was a mental health patient at the time and had been detained and sectioned under the Mental Health Act less than 48 hours previously.

Joe has no previous criminal convictions
 
We believe that Joe needs proper care and treatment in a supportive hospital environment. He should not be being criminalized or face the very real possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
 
There will be no pictures of Joe on this website. Joe is already a vulnerable person at risk and we do not want him to become a possible target in the future. It is widely documented that people with mental health difficulties are at much higher risk of verbal and physical assaults.

Click on the links above to learn more about Joe's case and what you can do to help

For more information email justiceforjoe@hotmail.co.uk

In SANE's opinion

LINK TO FACEBOOK

We have set up a campaigning page to highlight Joe's case on Facebook. Please visit, join and share with your friends.

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