Note. I have reread the following 'Open Letter' multiple times since posting it yesterday and been so appalled at my writing that I tried editing it several times today. I now realise this to be a mistake. This post needs to be a faithful reproduction of the letter as it was when sent to each of the addressees listed. It is the honest thing to do, in keeping with the ethos that underpins the intention behind this blog, providing an accurate and truthful account of events and maintaining journalistic integrity. Indeed, the clumsy wording that characterises this letter is really the consequence of my current state of mind and a true reflection of my poor mental health. Earlier today I had an appointment with my new therapist at CMHT, The Bridge Centre and we discussed my issues surrounding Hampshire Constabulary and my immediate reaction to Luke Murphy, MP for Basingstoke and his letter published below. We talked about Luke's decision and the detrimental effect on my mental health over almost two days. I was already aware of my steep decline into severe depression but it was only through engaging with my therapist that I consciously acknowledged that I had experienced a short spell of dissociation. Dissociation is a psychological defense against trauma and a way of coping with stressful situations. I had actually retreated deep into my mind, finding sanctuary in a place that I refer to as the 'padded room'. It was the first time I had ever talked to anyone else about this safe space in my head but worth mentioning now. This dissociation and retreat needs to be chronicled as it is important data that needs to shared. It explains my clumsy wording in the post below but more importantly it suggests that I should consider sharing a mental health diary. I'll give that idea some serious attention. In the meantime, here is my 'Open Letter' posted yesterday.
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS OPEN LETTER REQUIRES THE SERIOUS ATTENTION OF
HAMPSHIRE CONSTABUALRY, SOUTHERN HEALTH NHS FOUNDATION TRUST, The Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman, The Health and Care Professions Council and the office of LUKE MURPHY, MP for Basingstoke
This updates my previous ‘open letter’ sent on the 5th July, 2024.
The addressees of this letter are
Gemma Stubbington, Head of Nursing, Professions and Quality, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
John Kelly, care coordinator, CMHT Bridge Centre, Basingstoke
Dr Viv Cowdrill, Consultant Clinical Psychologist mid-north hants psychological services Southern Health
Rt Hon Luke Murphy, MP for Basingstoke ( ******* )
Rt Hon Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary, Home Department ( c/o Luke Murphy )
Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood, Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice ( c/o Luke Murphy )
Scott Johnson, Chief Inspector, Basingstoke District, Hampshire Police
Donna Jones, Hampshire & IOW Police & Crime Commissioner ( ********** ) and *****************J and *********** )
Paul Douglas, Interim Head of Case Progression & Quality, HCPC ( ******** )
Rebecca Hilsenrath, CEO, The Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (**********)
David Jagiello-Brown, caseworker. The Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman ( ********* )
Colum Conway, CE, Social Work England ( ref ****** )
Care Quality Commission, for the attention of Ian Trenholm, Chief Executive Officer ( ***************** )
Integrated Care Board, Hampshire and IOW c/o Libby Thomas
To be shared widely with the national press
And disseminated widely on social media
Contents
1) Hunger Strike
2) Luke Murphy, MP for Basingstoke
3) Status of ‘fitness to practice’ complaint lodged with the HCPC
4) Status of complaint lodged with the PHSO
Dear All,
In the light of the appalling lack of progress on the part of individuals and institutions to address serious issues raised by me, I have decided to issue the following statement.
1) Hunger Strike
I am absolutely committed to resuming hunger strikes in protest at Hampshire Constabulary’s dogged insistence in retaining false, damaging and discriminatory information about me on their database.
I called a temporary suspension to my last hunger strike on the 27th June, 2024.
I will, as of the 6th of January, 2025, recommence that hunger strike and continue until Hampshire Constabulary remove all damaging and discriminatory information about me on from database.
In anticipation of that same hunger strike I have initiated a social media campaign, inviting the general public to follow progress of events up to the 6th of January and afterwards to bear witness to my protest live, in real time. It had been my fervent hope to generate widespread public awareness throughout the UK. I have been genuinely surprised to learn through AI analytics that my social media campaign has actually generated interest worldwide from San Antonio to Singapore.
I will do whatever it takes to create media interest and will take advantage of all opportunities to share my story in newsprint, online, radio or television. My grievance with Hampshire Constabulary is embedded within the much wider story of my journey through mental health services in Basingstoke, with particular reference to the disturbing and truly harrowing experiences with two NHS Foundation Trusts, while advocating on behalf of my mentally ill daughter.
2) Luke Murphy, MP for Basingstoke
The writing of this latest ‘open letter’ was provoked following receipt late yesterday afternoon of correspondence from Luke Murphy, MP for Basingstoke. I had asked for assistance with my dealings with Hampshire Constabulary and for his representation in appealing to the Home Office and to the Ministry of Justice. The correspondence from Luke is published here
'Dear Mark, I am contacting you regarding your request for assistance getting an occurrence of no further action removed from the Hampshire Constabulary database. This issue is clearly having a profound effect on your on-going mental health. My team and I are genuinely concerned for your welfare and sorry to hear that you found it necessary to go on hunger strike to bring attention to your case. I am very glad to hear that you are getting support from the Bridge Centre, and I would encourage you to continue to do so. Thank you for providing my team with all the relevant information and for your patience as my office worked through this information. As your MP, I am dedicated to supporting constituents with their concerns, and wherever possible, we will work directly with the relevant agencies to seek a resolution. However, from the information you have provided you have already exhausted all means available to have this data erased. You have already made a right of erasure request and escalated the matter to the ICO. As an MP, I do not have any direct authority to request the removal of data from the Police Nation Database (PND). The PND is managed by local law enforcement agencies and adheres to a strict set of guidelines under UK data protection laws and police policies. There are no alternative methods available to me for requesting the deletion of your data that you haven't already exhausted. I appreciate that your will be disappointed and that this is not the news you were hoping for. I understand that you have expressed feeling so traumatised by this process that you have feelings of suicidal ideation. If you are feeling suicidal, I would encourage you to access support and have provided a list of local support agencies below. My office will also be making an adult safeguarding referral as we are concerned for your wellbeing. While I know that this is not the outcome you wanted when you approached me, I do sympathise with your situation and fully recognised the impact it has had on you. Please do reach out if there is anything else you need that I may be able to support you with.
Yours sincerely
Luke Murphy Member of Parliament for Basingstoke'
I need to clarify. There two parts to my grievance with Hampshire Constabulary which are not of my own making but which are the result of there being more than one distinct bureaucratic entities involved in my case. Aside from the actual operating police force there is 1) the Professional Standards Department which assesses complaints made by the public about the police and 2) the Joint Information Management Unit, JIMU, which manages data held by the police. Additionally there are further layers of police oversight including the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. It is my understanding that once an ‘offence’ is investigated by the police it is recorded as an ‘occurrence’ and retained following Management of Police Information, MoPI, guidelines.
My grievances against Hampshire Constabulary are better understood by using their own process
a) The complainant, INFT, CAMHS art therapist, Sally Mungall reported me to Hampshire Constabulary for ‘stalking/harassment’ by sending documents to her regarded by her as being ‘unwanted’.
b) Hampshire Constabulary did not establish the facts ie asking Sally Mungall if she had informed me that she did not want me to send documents to her, which she hadn’t, or asking to read the documents that I had sent to Sally Mungall and confirming that I had made it absolutely clear, in writing, that I would not contact her if she requested. Instead, they sent an officer to my home to give me ‘words of advice’.
c) PC A Lowe informed me, in writing, that the visit to my home by the police officer was ‘not a harassment warning’.
d) Yet, three ‘occurrences’, two of which were mistakes on the part of Hampshire Constabulary, were recorded under a heading of ‘stalking/harassment’.
e) These ‘occurrences’ were then processed by the separate JIMU department under a category labelled ‘Violent and Sexual Offences’ in line with MoPI guidelines, to be retained for 10 years before review and possible further retention until I am 100 years old because, as far as I understand it, I am now considered a ‘risk’ to the public.
f) My complaint, which found its way to the Professional Standards department within Hampshire Constabulary, was not upheld. I was advised that my only recourse in challenging the decision made by the Professional Standards department was a judicial review. Enquiries made by me concluded that a judicial review would cost somewhere in the region of £30,000 which is completely outside of financial means.
All of which means that in order to have the false, damaging and discriminatory information held under my name by the JIMU I need to successfully challenge Hampshire Constabulary’s original decision to send a police officer to my home AND to challenge the JIMU interpretation of MoPI guidelines.
As things stand, I will remain a suspect of ‘violent and sexual offences’, ‘stalking and harassment’ because I sent documents to CAMHS art therapist, Sally Mungall, which she deemed were ‘unwanted’ but never informed me were ‘unwanted’. And, just to remind you, the documents that I actually sent were not sent to her ‘home’ but to her art therapy practice and were sent following advisement by her own professional bodies including the Health and Care Professions Council.
I am condemned, likely for the rest of my natural life as a ‘violent and sexual offender’ and a ‘stalker and harasser’ because I sent a reasonable and polite letter to a mental health professional who is being currently investigated by the HCPC for misconduct and abuse of me, her former patient.
And so, in reply to Luke’s letter
I note that you have met many members of the local community and enjoyed the hospitality of the Vyne School, the Viables Community Centre, Basingstoke Tamil community, De La Vue etc. You have yet to meet me. I would welcome the opportunity to meet you, Luke, to establish a strategy to engage with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice in order that ALL false, damaging and discriminatory information being retained under my name by Hampshire Constabulary is removed from their database. This is NOT about removing ‘no further action taken’. ‘No further action taken’ only means that I was not charged and do not have a criminal record. ‘No further action taken’ is NOT an exoneration. I DO have a defacto criminal record. This is wrong and I continue to ask you to help me put right this injustice. Also, please take the opportunity to speak with CMHT, The Bridge Centre and verify my 'risk' status. In response to Aideen’s question over my ‘risk’ status I supplied a list of clinicians and highly respected leadership staff who work at CMHT, The Bridge Centre and the wider SouthernHealth NHS Foundation Trust. Those on the list know me very well and I would expect them to speak favourably of my character and confirm me to be of no risk to anyone other than me. I spoke with John Kelly, my care coordinator at CMHT, The Bridge Centre this afternoon and he told me that you hadn’t taken up the invitation to speak with him. John can confirm my ‘risk’ status and act as mediary to the clinicians and leadership staff on the list I supplied to Aideen. You are my Parliamentary representative. Represent me in Parliament, please.
3) Status of ‘fitness to practice’ complaint lodged with the HCPC
I first lodged my ‘fitness to practice’ complaint with the Health and Care Professions Council over TWO YEARS AGO! Interim Head of Case Progression & Quality at HCPC, Paul Douglas assured me that my complaint had been approved to go the next stage, that being the Investigating Committee Panel but a lack of resources means there are delays in progressing. I have decided not to publish direct correspondence with Paul Douglas or anyone else representing the HCPC but I have advised him that I am now in the process of telling the story of my experiences with art therapist, Sally Mungall, through my online blog found at www.fourandtwentydeadcrows.com
4) Status of complaint lodged with the PHSO
And, finally, I first lodged my complaint against CAMHS, Bramblys Drive, Basingstoke and the wider Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust over TWO YEARS AGO! I was informed, at the time, by the PHSO that my complaint wouldn’t be allocated a caseworker for up to 11 months due to a Covid 19 backlog. It was that information that ultimately led me to follow advice and contact Sally Mungall directly to ask what had gone wrong while I was under her therapeutic care. The PHSO completely overlooked my complaint for more than a year, forcing my MP at the time, Maria Miller, to write to their CEO on my behalf. There were many more subsequent delays and oversights by the PHSO until September, 2024. On the 24th of that month I was informed by PHSO caseworker, David Jagiello-Brown, that my complaint was now considered more complicated and was awaiting being moved to a more senior caseworker. To date, may complaint has not been allocated a new caseworker. I have been informed that PHSO complaints usually take 4 to 5 months to process. My complaint has been pending for TWENTY-SIX MONTHS! I am now in the process of telling the story of my experiences of CAMHS, Bramblys Drive, Basingstoke and the wider Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust through my online blog found at www.fourandtwentydeadcrows.com
With regards,
Mark Stock
12th November, 2024
