Support Jon Ablewhite, John Smith and Kerry Whitburn

Jon Ablewhite (TB4885), John Smith (TB4887) and Kerry Whitburn (TB4886) are located at HMP Lowdham Grange, Lowdham, Nottingham. England. NG14 7DA.

All are serving 12 years for conspiracy to blackmail the Hall family who run Newchurch guineapig farm.

What you can send: stamps; postal orders/cheques payable to HMP LOWDHAM GRANGE - include inmate's number on back and name/address of sender. Will not accept writing paper or packs of envelopes.

Note: Remember when writing to prisoners to always have their prisoner number on the envelope and your address on the letter itself.

LETTER FROM JONNY ABLEWHITE (TB4885)

I finally have to admit defeat – the continual flow of heartfelt letters means I just can’t avoid this anymore! Typing up ‘collective’ letters is frowned upon but I felt as if I was neglecting my letter writing responsibilities so it became unavoidable – forgive me, you beautiful creatures! You will be rewarded in Vegan heaven! I’ve finished my Master’s degree exams – yes, I may seem a little proud but I am inwardly smiling that I’ve managed to plough on with this course in these trying circumstances. If I pass these I can begin reading for my thesis that should conclude the Masters in Social Sciences by the end of next year – hopefully. The simple but effective combination of both mental and physical exercise and stimulation really has assisted this prison journey so far. I have a stoical soul but the regular gym and studying I have been afforded has been indispensable in relieving any complaints. But I won’t lie; there are times when I want to crumble because I can’t sit on the grass with my family or laugh in a bar with my friends – but then I see the pile of letters you send and it genuinely, poignantly reminds me that hope is an exquisite and eternal thing. Thank you for them and your incredible generosity.

Yet we have, somehow, landed in prison that seems to be pioneering a laissez-faire attitude to retributive punishment; not what you’d expect from Blair’s post-colonial tyranny! Many aspects of this prison are in efficient and inhumane but the rime is wholly bearable. We are locked up from 9pm weekdays and from 6pm weekends. I have a TV, DVD player, PS2, in-cell phone and a Hi-Fi; all the consumer durables and luxuries that I just dreamed about during my stay at HMP Birmingham. My cell is now my home, it is sizable and comfortable – somewhere I can relax, think and dream. The guards here are extremely polite, often useless but innocuous all the same. The 50 or so lads I share my days with on C wing are mellow and often hilarious and, from the horse’s mouth, 99.9% are here because of drug-related offences. It is clearly a pandemic problem the government has little chance of tackling. But, if drugs or drug-debts don’t get in the way, they are all congenial – a consequence of their life and prison experiences. We all just want to get along and get out!

The Appeal will begin in a few months, probably next year. I have little hope though. The State’s judicial system is so completely entrenched in institutional and hegemonic immortality it pains me to think I will have to stand before them and be ignored again. I have thankfully managed to replace my legal team; they were so ineffectual in presenting my case I couldn’t bear to let them loose on my Appeal! Please keep fingers, toes and knees crossed that it will come to some avail.

I have a great job on the prison magazine team: I proofread, spell check and edit – in keeping with my background strutting around classrooms. I’ve also been asked to help teach a Film Studies course so I’m over the moon. I sing/howl in the prison band and we trash out rather naff versions of Pixies or Neil Young classics twice a week. We performed in front of an audience last week, with some hip-hop and R&B improvisation – it was a complete belly-aching laugh. And of course I read a lot. There are 5 or 6 of us that meet weekly for a ‘Philosophy’ discussion on a Wednesday morning. We set this weary world to rights, rant and battle with clashing theories and opinions; it’s great. We’ve been encouraged by recent libertarian struggles in Venezuela and Mexico; it’s time to leave this septic isle. I just crave the occasional cool cider and more Vegan allies. But there is such an up-lifting heterogenic multicultural mix of people here with an eclectic jumble of stories and wisdoms – each trying to maintain rationality and some self-esteem for themselves and their families, here and abroad.

Visits are of course a redemptive blessing. So can I thank everyone for taking time to see me, for filling my weekends with such hilarity! I thank you all dearly for writing too – from the heart of my bottom!! But I thank you most for your veganism; for the unflinching personal dignity and compassion for animals it provides in these tyrannous times – for this giving me unfaltering strength and hope. I leave you with the wonderful words of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, anarchist and visionary (1809-1865); vegan food for thought indeed.

“ To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed, legislated, closed in, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, evaluated, censored, commanded … To be governed means that at every move, operation or transaction one is noted, registered, entered into a census, taxed, stamped, priced, assessed, patented, licensed, authorized, recommended, admonished, prevented, reformed, set right, corrected. Government means to be subjected to tribute, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, pressured, mystified, robbed; all in the name of public utility and the general good. Then, at the first sign of resistance or word of complaint, one is repressed, fined, despised, vexed, pursued, hustled, beaten up, garroted, imprisoned, shot, machine-gunned, judged, sentenced, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed, and to cap it all, ridiculed, mocked, outraged and dishonoured. That is government, that is its justice, that is its morality!”

Yours Always For The Animals; For The Earth,

Jonny.