Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
A 78-year-old climate protester has returned to prison because her wrists were too small to be fitted with an electronic tag.
Gaie Delap was sentenced to 20 months after participating in a Just Stop Oil protest which caused disruption on the M25. She was released early in November under a home detention curfew.
However, due to stroke risk, Delap could not be fitted with an ankle tag and was told her wrist was too small. The former art teacher returned to prison five days before Christmas to serve the remainder of her sentence.
Last week, hundreds gathered outside her cell to sing Happy Birthday as she spent the day behind bars. Just Stop Oil claims EMS, the electronic tag manufacturer, became aware of the issue in late 2022, when a tag could not be fitted before sentencing.
With the prison system already in crisis, many are calling on EMS and Serco to redesign the wrist tag to better accommodate women.
