A concert pianist is on hunger strike in English prison

A concert pianist is on hunger strike in English prison

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norman lebrecht

January 20, 2018

A concert pianist, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed late last year after identifying his son on social media in the course of a custody battle involving local social services.

The pianist is now said to be starving himself to death.

Concerned about a possible miscarriage of justice, campaigners are calling for the courts to release more public information about the distressing case.

The pianist is of Ukrainian origin and may not be fully conversant with English law.

Comments

  • philip says:

    Yep, this does not surprise me in the least in Britain today. The so-called child protection industry and family court system is one of the cruellest tyrannies this country has ever known. The threshold for safeguarding is set so low, and ignorance, back-covering and bureaucratic lunacy so rife that a perfectly loving and safe patent can be divested of their child. The social media restriction he has transgressed would have been put in place in reality to protect the authorities not to protect the child, although that’s what they will claim.

  • philip says:

    Scrap that actually. The guy does sound to have been a considerable dork, and been given plenty of chance to provide proper care for the boy. The secretiveness is all wrong, though, any potential harm to the boy from ‘publicity’ paling into insignificance next to his family (or lack of it) circumstances.

  • Jan Kaznowski says:

    An MP has raised this, saying “…the judge who imposed the sentence is in the wrong because a ruling explaining the case has not been published.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-5291121/Family-court-judge-explain-pianist-jailed-says-campaigner.html

  • Leo says:

    Seems that the man’s dad got some European treatment, but no, that did not stop the pianist. He strove for the paradise, he got there, why complaining now?

  • Eugene says:

    This pianist himself handed over his son to police and social services. He called police for his son several times. He stated that his son going crazy and needs help. So state services provided this help after discovered that son is not safe with such a father who is calling police and slandering own child. Hunger strike is only for that to spend prison time in medical unit rather than in prison cell!

  • Eugene says:

    If you want prove about his calls to police read here points 39-41 http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2015/3262.html

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