To those of you reading these entries, thank you. I invite you to become a regular follower of my blog and to share widely with friends and family as I struggle to speak truth to power and hold clinicians and institutions to account.

I will be making an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT on this site on the 5th of July, 2025, divulging details on my upcoming '#IAmNotATerrorist' Tour of central London later beginning early August. This tour is being organised to draw widespread public attention to my blogsite in preparation for my next hunger strike, organised in protest against Hampshire Constabulary and to raise awareness of my grievances against CAMHS, Bramblys Drive, BASINGSTOKE, the wider Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman and the Health and Care Professions Council.

'THE 'PREVENT' FILES'

about the misuse of a state power, conflating radicalisation with non-violent civil disobedience, mental health and neurodivergency vulnerabilities and the suppression of human rights including the right to protest and the right to freedom of expression

ONE

What is the Prevent duty?

First introduced in 2005, the Prevent strategy is the Government’s flagship counter-extremism policy. It aims to identify and intervene with people at risk of committing terrorist acts.

Section 26(1) of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 imposes the ‘Prevent duty’ on public bodies, which includes the police, schools, universities, social services and healthcare providers. The Prevent duty requires public bodies to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.”

This means that public sector workers including your schoolteacher, NHS doctor, social worker or public body employer, can monitor and make referrals to expert officers in the local police force if they suspect that you are vulnerable to radicalisation.

The Prevent duty also requires public sector workers to avoid exposing people to extremist views.

24th June, 2025. The start of my protest in Central London, primarily in demonstration against Hampshire Constabulary but also to raise awareness of the need for legislative reform of the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman, was overshadowed by ominous clouds. Rain was battering at the windows of the carriage as my train rolled into Waterloo station, inclement weather that hadn’t been forecast. By the time I had disembarked and walked to Westminster Bridge the rainfall had eased but the air remained precipitate and chill. I spent a few moments looking out across the River Thames towards the Houses of Parliament, St Thomas’s Riverside Garden at my back. Rebecca Ferguson had sat in the same spot in September 2014 filming a scene for Mission Impossible Fallout. Rebecca had been playing the part of Ilsa Faust the deuteragonist in the movie, a former intelligence operative employed by MI6 who worked for a terrorist organization. The irony was not lost on me. My protest was under the watch of our UK government’s counterterrorist initiative known as Prevent.

I drew my cape around my shoulders, more bed throw than sleeveless cloak, patterned with crow feathers and emboldened with my blogsite address www.fourandtwentydeadcrows.com. I climbed the steps to Westminster Bridge, donned my cosplay crow’s head and started walking to Parliament Square.

My progress across Westminster Bridge was slow. It was hard to see out the tiny eye holes and breathing was difficult. First lesson learned; do not try and walk at pace wearing a cheap, claustrophobic theatrical prop. I managed to avoid bumping into any pedestrians or collapsing in asphyxiation spasms and turned left after Elizabeth Tower, into Parliament Square and immediately under the basilisk stares of armed police guarding a gate into the Houses of Parliament. The male police clearly didn’t see the humour in my corvid disguise but the two women security detail were amused and smiling at me. I flashed them a thumbs up and loitered on the pavement for around an hour.

It was shortly after 10am that I moved my quiet demonstration to the other side of the road and in the Parliament Square Garden. There were groups of tourists, many of whom were joined to guided walking tours, grouped around the garden. This was my audience. These were my people. The underlying purpose was to attract as much attention from the public and steer them to my blog site. Ideally, I need hundreds of thousands of people watching me when I recommence hunger strikes later this summer. I paraded around, cape furled and crow’s head in place and did indeed start to attract attention. Some tourists even began filming and photographing. At least one tourist stood next to me and had his photo taken by his partner. All was going well until a man assuming the authority of park attendant informed me that the gardens were under the control of the Greater London Authority and that I would need to buy a permit from London City Hall. He defined the park boundaries and told me to demonstrate outside.

Immediately after he moved on I was approached by another man who I initially thought was a member of the national press. I was gravely mistaken. This man, who I will refer to as ‘D’, was attached to the Metropolitan Police and was likely a member of Counter Terrorism Command (  CTC ) or ‘SO15’, the Specialist Operations branch within London’s Metropolitan Police Service.

I had taken the precaution of informing the Metropolitan Police of my intent to protest and had even provided them with an itinerary of my day. They had all the important details, including my name. ‘D’ knew who I was but asked for confirmation. ‘Are you Mr Stock?’. ‘Yes. I am,’ I replied. ‘D’ advised me that he was recording our conversation by use of camera and told me he was carrying out a ‘welfare check’. I was already aware of the term, otherwise known as safe and well checks, which are carried out on people who are vulnerable, often those with mental health issues. I engaged in a direct, open and friendly conversation with ‘D’, aware that I was also talking to his camera, answering all of his questions honestly and without reservation. I was also aware that I was answering questions that were probably connected to Prevent. The Counter Terrorism Command is responsible for leading Counter Terrorism-related investigations in the whole London area, as well as Prevent work across London’s boroughs to help to stop those vulnerable to radicalisation from being drawn into terrorism. ‘D’ was obviously well-trained. He was friendly and his questions, while invasive, were posed with sensitivity and tact. I was comfortable talking to ‘D’ until around 15 minutes into the conversation when we were interrupted by barked enquiries from behind me. I don’t remember the exact words used but they were something like ‘Do you need us to take him?’ ‘We got a van lined up.’ I turned and saw a small group of uniformed police at the roadside, standing around the back of a van. Their enquiries were directed at ‘D’ but he declined the invitation, shaking his head. I processed more of ‘D’s questions, all the while listening to my amygdala shouting ‘Fuck! Where did that come from?’ It seemed that I’d come perilously close to being arrested. But arrested for what?!

By the end of our conversation it seemed ‘D’ was satisfied that I posed no credible terrorist threat. He saw the real me, the beleaguered single dad and carer to a mentally ill daughter, seeking accountability and protesting injustice. He offered his hand in friendship, which I accepted and said I was free to protest as is my right.

I moved on, following my own itinerary and made my way to Downing Street and more stone-faced, gun-toting police. Heads didn’t necessarily move in my direction but eyes did. There was some attention and questions from curious tourists but Downing Street proved poor in comparison with the garden in front of Parliament. I decided to move on after around twenty minutes.

The historic Horse Guards building was a short walk further down Whitehall. A couple of lads were there already, carrying white placards bearing scrawled messages about ‘Starmer’ though it was hard to tell if the were protesting the prime Minister or endorsing him. I felt a small welling of pride in my own effort. I certainly drew the attention of the tourists at Horse Guards. Mobile phones were pointed in my direction and the younger children were amused at my crow mask.

I had scheduled to visit Tower Bridge and the Tower of London in the afternoon but I was flagging by lunchtime. The inappropriate referral to Prevent had induced stomach cramps and recurrent bad dreams and I hadn’t slept properly in almost two weeks. I had already been awake since 3.30am that morning. I wandered down to Trafalgar Square with half a mind on loitering, crow-like between the lions until I realised I had no mind left. I had been reduced to Zombie status, my remaining will evaporated beneath the claustrophobic confines of my crow mask.

I returned to Waterloo station and caught an earlier train back to Basingstoke.