Stephen has been in prison now for five years and one month, as of June 2018. He has served just over a quarter of the term he was sentenced.

He has been held in some very difficult category A prisons where being confined to his shared cell for up to 23 hours a day was the normal regime.

Thankfully, for him and his supporters, he is now in a category C prison which means that he can now exercise and work in the prison garden, an occupation which has provided Stephen with some solace.

Also, thankfully, the government’s short-sighted idea of banning prisoners from being sent books has been rescinded, so Stephen spends a lot of time reading. He has taught himself braille so that he can translate books for the blind. He has taught himself advanced origami and to express gratitude to his visitors gives beautiful presents of such things as bunches of flowers  made of paper and card. He has created complex geometric shapes in paper sometimes with a miniature version of itself trapped within it and barely glimpsed. Some of these are pictured here:-

Now just entering the sixth year of sentence, Stephen continues to maintain his innocence which ensures that his time ‘inside’ is harder to serve and such extras as there are that bit harder to obtain. It also sets him apart from the majority of other prisoners who readily admit their guilt making reasonable social interaction and association with them that much harder too. With one appeal already failed, and longer to serve ahead of him than he has already, why would he maintain such an uncomfortable position for himself unless he had utter moral certainty in his innocence?

Updates (as of June 20th 2017)

We visited Stephen on Friday June 15th in Ashfield. He was looking well, due to working in the garden. He was pragmatic, but still hopeful that either his complainant would recover her clarity, or that someone in a position of power would question his sentence and ask for a re-trial.

Stephen’s Solicitor, who believes wholly in his innocence and still works pro bono on bringing him justice has recently been made aware of another trial involving the complainant in Stephen’s case. Since Stephen’s conviction she has accused two other men of similar crimes. One accusation was not taken seriously and did not go to court. The other was against a psychiatric support worker who had been working with her. Interestingly the descriptions of the acts supposedly perpetrated were exactly the same as those she had described Stephen having committed, and although she made the allegations more recently, she describes the crimes as happening concurrently.

Chris Saltrese, Stephen’s solicitor believed that the CPS would agree with him that this constituted new evidence and that an appeal could be run. Frustratingly (if one can use that word when someone’s freedom and name is at stake) The CPS disagreed: yet another ray of hope snuffed out.

Reporting of cases of sexual abuse of late have centred around non disclosure, and shockingly, that police have been trained not to disclose evidence that would prove innocence. Rape cases have been falling apart. Alison Saunders, the director of Public Prosecutions has apologised for these disclosure failings, and is to step down from her role as a result. Her tenure has been described as “disastrous”.

More recently, articles have been published suggesting hundreds of innocent men must be in prison. Stephen is one of these men.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/system-blame-anything-innocent-man-jailed-rape/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/05/hundreds-miscarriages-justice-feared-cps-apologises-disclosure/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44366997

Updates (from August 17th 2018)

We visited Stephen in prison last Friday. Although always philosophical, and managing to amuse us with the black humour that prison life provides, we all felt he seemed as flat as we’d known him. All current avenues that could clear his name seem to have been explored, there are at present no obvious even dim rays of hope.

Messages of support mean a lot to Stephen, if you would like to send one, post them here: stephenhamiltonisinnocent.com and we will endeavour to forward them to him.

 

Previous Messages from Stephen’s supporters

• How do you know he is guilty? How can you be sure this is not a false allegation? Were you present at the time of the alleged assaults?  You could be the next person to be falsely accused of a sexual offence. No evidence needed apart from the word of the complainant and what he or she has told other people. Renate

• There are many, many stories written in our newspapers today whereby it is unknown to the journalist if the person they are writing about is guilty yet it is easy for the person to be portrayed as such.  False allegations are becoming the easiest allegations to make these days. Of course it is never publicized that the complainant can claim tens of thousands of pounds of compensation from the taxpayer without a shred of evidence which in my mind is the next big thing. T L

• I feel justice by media seems to be the norm these days, which makes me ashamed to be British. Where has ‘innocent until proven guilty’ gone in this godforsaken country? M Martin

• There are thousands of false allegations made every year simply because it’s widely known that the claimant’s word is accepted by the police/CPS, and very little investigation is made by the police. It’s also widely known that there are thousands of pounds of compensation to be had for making a False Claim. Ramon

• A respected doctor has been dragged through an investigation over which he has no control, screamed his innocence at the investigators and not been heard because their focus is on the “alleged victim” who can only be telling the truth—right?  Support to Stephen Hamilton. JS

• A terrible miscarriage of justice has occurred. I fervently hope and pray that he will be able to appeal these monstrous verdicts. Renate

• What a disgrace that an innocent man has been jailed for a crime he did not commit. The justice system is messed up. Dan

• My thoughts and support are with Stephen, his family & supporters at what must be an awful time. There is nothing, nothing worse than to be accused of terrible crimes that you know you have not committed; but even worse, to be found guilty of such a crime.  There is no justice today. I hope the liar is pleased with themselves & can live with what she has done today to an innocent man. T L
• Heartbroken, no justice in this world, that poor man who has only given… My heart goes out to him. I hope he has the strength to appeal and be heard. The people who know him know he is innocent. Allison
• Apparently, the jury’s mood changed when Stuart Hall admitted guilt to historic offences in the middle of the trial.  This was trial by media. I do hope there will be some serious grounds to appeal the convictions. If not, then hopefully the sentence can be appealed successfully. Ian P 
• I’ve always believed that these cases should not be tried by a jury but by a panel of relevant experts for both sides, and three judges. That way it is not so likely that what is going on in the media circus will influence any verdicts.  An utter tragedy for the defendant, the supporters and the defence team who did better than their best, as they always do. Maybe if they withdrew financial “compensation” for these cases and substituted it with top notch therapy for the genuine victims, then maybe £billions of taxpayers’ money would not be wasted on false rape allegation cases. Barbara
• Absolutely atrocious result – distraught for the innocent Stephen and his loved ones. I completely blame the media circus surrounding the celebrity witch-hunts for these increasing unjust results. Lives are being destroyed and the innocent are left to suffer.
• A very dark day. I pray with every ounce in me for Stephen and his loved ones to get through this nightmare brought on by evil
• So tragic that Stephen has been convicted. His family and followers know a massive injustice has been done and a dedicated doctor is now languishing in prison.  The juries are so brainwashed by the media that they no longer weigh up the evidence put before them. They only hear sexual abuse and are convinced that the complainant is truthful.
• It is now becoming a witch hunt in the UK, and no man whatever his status or character is safe from false allegations.  I agree with the comments above—the compensation available now is massive factor in making false allegations. Roman

• Dr. Hamilton was my GP throughout my childhood until the age of 19 when I moved for university. I find it hard to imagine him doing these things, given my experience of him as a very friendly, professional and trustworthy doctor. JBD

• As for the papers, shame they didn’t report the ever-changing testimony of the prosecution witness… smacked of lies throughout. W

• As a person who was falsely accused and has come out the other side, I have come across many people who are so quick to judge, purely because the accusation was made. I have had to go through all the stigma and a massive culling of friends because of the hate that has been cultivated in people through such accusations. AM

If you or anybody you know has been accused of such a crime as that described here you can find help at http://www.pafaa.org.uk/wordpress.