Published 16 September 2024
A double murderer who also held a prison officer hostage has been awarded
compensation after suffering "severe depression" when he was denied
contact with other inmates.
Fuad Awale is serving a life sentence for shooting two men in the head in 2011 in what a judge described as a planned "execution".
Awale
had been transferred to a special unit for the UK's most dangerous
prisoners in 2013 after he and another inmate ambushed the officer and
threatened to kill him.
However,
a court heard he experienced mental health issues after being denied
association with other inmates in the unit, partly due to risks
reportedly posed by the so-called Death Before Dishonour anti-Muslim
prison gang.
Awale,
from Milton Keynes, claimed the gang stopped him from associating with
other inmates in HMP Manchester and other prisons.
In
a judgment from the High Court, judge Mrs Justice Ellenbogan concluded
that Awale's rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human
Rights had been breached.
"The
degree of interference with the claimant's private life which has
resulted from his removal from association has been of some significance
and duration," she wrote.
Awale,
then 25, was sentenced to a minimum of 38 years in January 2013 after
shooting Abdi Farah, 19, and Amin Ahmed Ismail, 18, in an alleyway in
Milton Keynes over a drugs dispute.
Extremist beliefs
The court heard Awale was also assessed to "hold extremist beliefs" following the 2013 hostage attempt, in which demands were made to release the radical cleric Abu Qatada.
At one stage, Awale requested to be allowed to associate with one of the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby, the Manchester soldier murdered in 2013 by Islamic extremists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale in Woolwich.
That request was denied owing to "counter-terrorism concerns", the court heard.
However
Awale's lawyers argued he had been classed as suitable for association
with other prisoners within the tightly controlled units known as the
Close Supervision Centre - which consists of 68 places across the UK's
prison estate.
For
several years he was able to mix with several other pre-assessed
prisoners and attend Friday Prayers, until a fight among the group meant
it was disbanded.
Awale
was told he could join another association group with a prisoner
referred to as GV - however the court heard that man was a member of
Death Before Dishonour and had attacked Muslims before.
n October 2019, Awale was
moved to HMP Manchester and was told he would be able to associate with
two other prisoners in the supervision centre area.
However
after his arrival, he was told the men "posed a threat to him" and
there were no prisoners suitable for him to associate with in that unit.
He told the court he
later heard the men were also members of the Death Before Dishonour gang
- which the court heard are dedicated to the "eradication of Muslims
from the prison system".
Awale
remained in Manchester throughout 2020 and initially "engaged with
staff", but that relationship deteriorated due to what Awale described
as his "depressed state".
In
January 2021, Awale punched a prison officer in the face - a strike he
claimed he made in "self-defence" - and a series of moves across the
prison estate began.
Awale has been held in HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes since 2021 and had not associated with any other prisoners since 17 March, 2023.
His
lawyers argued the decisions to deny association were "opaque", that he
had been denied the chance to argue his case and prison managers had
failed to regularly review his segregated conditions as required by law.
Awale also argued
that the Secretary of State for Justice had failed to take into account
the high numbers of racist and Islamophobic prisoners in the supervision
centre, making it difficult to find suitable groups for him to
associate with.
Justice Ellenbogan allowed the claim on all grounds.
The court ruled that Awale would be entitled to non-pecuniary damages at an amount to be determined later.
The Ministry of Justice said: "We acknowledge the court’s judgement and will carefully consider the findings."
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