AGM 2017 M


y Presidential Address last year was about friendship


and, as Edd Frost commented a couple of years back, it’s quite difficult to write a second one (although Edd managed very well, after a glass or two on the night before he presented his second!) I had originally thought I’d speak about 175 years of Sibford but, as there is a second event to celebrate this later this year, I put that aside. In any event, as you can see from this youthful visage, I only coincide with a small fraction of that timescale! I toyed with the idea of anecdotes from my time as a pupil. Many, many people however would be aghast at what I might say so I’ve chosen instead the topic of ‘A testing friendship’. As some of you know, my two


years as President has coincided with the release from prison of someone who was in the same year as me at Sibford. He had been jailed for life and had served nine years prior to his release on licence. Following his release, he was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease. For those of you who are not familiar with HD, there is no treatment or cure and it leads to dementia. Most people die before then, though, as pneumonia or suicide account for many deaths. I first asked myself, when I heard of the sentence, should life mean life? Initially it appeared harsh but, having now spoken to a few of his victims, I am now of the opinion that there are certain crimes that deserve this sort of sentence and that an individual should serve the full term. However, people far more


knowledgeable than me took the


OUTGOING PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS BY ASHLEY SHIRLIN A testing friendship ...


decision to release him. My stance therefore was that if an individual is released then they should have a basic level of existence and that they shouldn’t be set up to fail and therefore be returned to prison, Upon release my classmate was granted a few months accommodation in various hostels. This time would normally be spent finding work and somewhere else to live. It was clear to me that there was something physically wrong with him when I visited him in prison. His GP on release identified that there was a problem and his HD was subsequently diagnosed. This effectively ruled out any chance of ever working again. This in turn drastically reduces the already limited places open to anyone with a criminal record to live. There are, however, landlords who do provide accommodation without the need for references. My limited experience of this type of accommodation is that they are near slums. For example, is it right that an individual must use the toilet at a local supermarket every day as the one in his flat was continually blocked for over a year? A huge question is whether


you should complain to the local authority about conditions and then potentially lose your home? Homelessness in my classmate’s case would have been a breach of his licence, which would have resulted in his recall to prison. Nothing was ever simple over the last two years but I quite quickly learned that if something could go wrong it would. For example, there was the issue of a bank account. After seven years of inactivity, banks automatically close accounts. My classmate had been in prison for nine years. No problem I thought, open another one. Has anyone tried to open a bank account without photo ID? Upon his arrest, his Passport was confiscated by the police. His Driving Licence was the old style, which didn’t contain his photo. Reapply for a licence then. Not possible without a Birth Certificate. Get a duplicate Birth Certificate then. Not possible as he was born abroad and his parents had not registered him on their return. Go to the country of birth then. Has anyone ever dealt with the Malawi High Commission? So, if you don’t have a bank account or photo ID how do you get your benefits in cash? It’s quite difficult. What you need is someone like me who is daft enough to have the DWP pay the money into his account and who will then send you cash. Has anyone bought a Postal Order recently? Not cheap when you only get £50 a week to cover your food, light, heat etc. One area that I did anticipate


problems with was trying to claim other benefits such as ESA and PIP. I’m a reasonably bright chap with most of my faculties still in


The Sibford Rocket / 23


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