Steven's Sentence is Officially complete

We have spoken with the FCO today in London who confirm that they have received confirmation from the Embassy in Costa Rica and the Honorary Consul in Managua, Nicaragua that a judge in Managua has issued an order stating that Steven has served his sentence and can now be released from prison!

This is quite simply amazing news!

There is still a lot to do! Prisons in Nicaragua are notorious for not releasing prisoners after their sentence has been finished. The system takes time to get all the necessary paperwork in place, so, whilst this is amazing news it could still be a few weeks or months before we get Steven back to the UK. However, we are not deterred by this and we are placing pressure upon the FCO to ensure that the process is completed in a timely manner.

As soon as we have a release date we will be able to purchase a ticket for Steven to fly back tot he UK. We may need to get him an emergency travel document which also has a cost, but the FCO think that the courts may have his passport, so we are hoping this is the case and he can fly back on that document without having to avoid the US and incur additional costs.

this is a very exciting time, I can tell you that Steven is overjoyed and is very eager to see his mother and family.

As soon as we have any further information we will be posting it here.

thank you

its been some time

I have spoken with Steve tonight who is in a really good frame of mind. He is very coherant and upbeat.

The last few months have been slow, not much has happened apart from us supporting Steve with little bits of money and telephone support which Andy has been doing for the last couple of months whilst Brendan has been preparing to leave to work in Africa.

Still, all is well. His release date of April 13th is fast approaching and we are hoping that this will be honoured as release dates in Nicaragua usually come and go without prisoners being released. But we are hopeful and even want to try and get him back earlier if we can.

We will be talking to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office tommorow to get an update from them about the status and potential release date. We will let you know what comes from those conversations.

May Tornado

I spoke with Steve last night. We had a great conversation about his last few weeks. He had a great time telling me about a tornado which blew hrough Tipitapa. It would seem that a deluge of rain was dumped in Nicaragua which meant that the prison was flooded up to the knees of the prisoners. Cells were flooded which meant inmates had to sleep next to water which took them 3 days to get completely dry. Steve had a great time and it seems the inmates enjoyed the occasion so much so they ended up having water fights.

Steve is in good form. He has not had a visitor for over a month becuase money is really tight, however, his girlfriend was visiting him today. She had been waiting to get in since 9am and it was now 3pm, so she had stuck it out to see him. He was very happy.

We discussed his release which he thinks is coming in August. It seems as though we have been told he is getting released every month this year, one can undertand why we are not holding our breath. From our perspective his official release date is April 2011 which is now less that 1 year away. This is a massive difference from the 25 years he had left when we first met him, so I did try to put that into perspective for him. He seemed to accept that no matter what happens he will be released next April, anything less than that is a bonus.

So for now all seems well. We have so far raised enough money to almost pay for a ticket for Steve to return to the UK. We are also still sending out money to him to help him buy food. He is so greatful for this, so much so he wanted me to pass on his express thanks to all those who are helping him. He simply is overwhelemed by peoples generosity with their money, especially in these difficult times.

I will be speaking to Steve again over the weekend as he thinks he may be in court again soon. We shall see........

Morning Has broken

I woke this morning to the usual flurry of emails, texts and other messages vibrating the bones out of my BlackBerry. Through half opened eys, peering onto the piercing bright screen I read a message from Steve, which was not of the type one wants to read at the start of the day, especially since i had not even made it out of bed.

Steven sent a text last night saying that on Saturday he had taken an overdose and cut his wrists. As far as we know he is ok, since he text me last night and this all happened on Saturday. Unfortunately this is not the first time we have been through this with Steve. We are trying to get hold of him as we speak so hopefully will be able to offer a better perspective on his current situation.

I did speak to Steve on Friday and he was in great form, so one must wonder what happened between Friday morning and Saturday.

To give you all an update, it seems that the solicitor that worked with Steve and the other party who was involved in this case wants money. US$40k to be precise which is simply not going to happen, it is a ridiculous request and one the solicitor knows too well will not be entertained. However, things have moved forward, Steve is going back to court to see if he can be released. As with all these things there is so much going on under the surface that it can be difficult to see the wood for the trees, but one can never be sure of what could happen. Steve seems to think he will be released this month, and, when I had a chat to his solicitor in my disastrous Spanish, he too seemed to think Steve would be out by April. Who knows?

We will of course keep you up to date.

In the meantime we wait and hope that Steven does not really find the will to end his lfe. I would hope that this current situation is Seven wanting some attention.

We would be so grateful if you can pray for Stevens mind, that he will settle and be patient just that little longer. All we can do here is request he is visited by the Honorary Consul and hope they give him the support he needs.

As soon as we have more information we will let you all know.

To all those who are helping financially we want to thank you so much. We let you know before Christmas how your money had been spent so far. We hope you found this helpful. For now, our focus is on providing food for Steven and raising enough to buy him a ticket back to the UK when he is released, and we hope and pray that will be sooner rather than later.

May God's will be done in all things.

Wardens Offering False Hope

Steve had indeed been in a scuffle, exactly why I can not say, the information is just not coming. However, it would seem that the Wardens have been using a cruel tactic of telling Steve he is going to be released soon just so he keeps his head down and out of trouble.

Steven rang me last week and was so excited about the prospect of being released in the next couple of weeks that he had asked his girlfriend to get a solicitor to do the paperwork and had told his entire familly he was coming home.

After speaking to our contact at the FCO it seems there is no such process underway and that the Wardens have said all this to Steven just to get him to calm down and not seek an trouble after the attack that took place.

Its a cruel and horrible thing to do and now we have to tell Steven that the Wardens have been lying to him.

Not the best of jobs......

It's Been Some Time

It has indeed been a little time since we last updated this blog. One reasons is good, becuase there has not beentoo much to let people know, and the other reason is not so good and that is exactly the same as the first.

However, I had a message on my phone from Steven the other night saying he had been attacked and was worried he has had his arm broken. He said everything has been stolen from him. We have not been abel to get hold of Steven becuase of many different reasons, but I know that Andy is going to try and get hold of him tonight.

As soon as we know how he is we will let you all know.

Take care

Brendan

November Update

The last few weeks since October have been eventful for Steven. He has been placed in lockdown (Confinement to cell), had his clothes and personal items stolen, been beaten up and now, moved to a new gallery (wing) for his own safety.

Currently things seem good and we have been able to help Steven out of the predicament by speaking to him everyday for the last few weeks and sending out a lttle bit of cash to pay off the debt that he had which was the source of his difficulties.

For now all is good, however, I did have some dissapointing news from the FCO yesterday. We had been quite careful to ensure that the PTA (Prison tranfer Agreement) had been ratified by parliament and was all good to go. Our ocntact at the FCO confirmed some six months ago that indeed it was all in place. unfortunately, we have now had feedback from the FCO that ratification has not taken place and is tied up somehwere in the buerocracy between the two Governments.

This is really dissapointing as this was the tool by which we would have been able to get Steven released to the UK and into the British Prison system thus qualifying him for all the services afforded any prisoner in a UK prison, such as rehabilitiation, probation and assistance with adjusting to normal life. It is our fear that he will not be afforded such services and thus have to wait until the end of his sentence (April 2011) and be returned to the UK with no support.

This is sad news. We are still working with the FCO to see if the ratification process can be speeded up, but at present we have no further information.

With the money that people have donated we have been able to buy Steven some new clothes, food and books etc. So we want to thank those who have and are helping in a financial manner. We are still building a little fund to help us get Steven back from nicaragua and help him when he returns, so every penny is a blessing. Thank you to all who help.

We shall keep you informed about the PTA process and any other relevant information.

A little Book of Words

We have spoken with Steven yesterday to find him better than he has been over the last few days. He is currently still in lockdown but is due to be let out of his cell in the next 5 days.

During this time we have seen Steven's spirits tumble and so we wanted to help him as best we can. We are therefore compiling a little booklet of prayers, thoughts, words of encouragement etc so he can turn to them when he is in not so good a place.

This booklet will be sent out in the next 10 days, however, if you would like to contribute simply email us here with your words or reply to this blog. We will print and paste comments received into the book we are sending out.

Thank you!

Tough Times

Things are not going so well for Steven at the moment. For reasons we do not know he is currently locked in his cell with no bed, no food, no water and has been told he is to stay there for 3 months. We have written to the Foreign Office and are awaiting confirmation as to what exactly is happening and what we can do to sort the problem.

Unfortunately, Steven is not in the best of places and he was close to tears when I spoke to him on Saturday night. Michael, the man that was convicted with Steven has now been released and this has had a big impact on Steven's frame of mind since he has another year to serve. It's all very difficlut and made even more so by this sudden turn of events. Unfortunately Steven was very close to doing something silly and it is our payer that he stays strong in what is a very difficult situation. All he has is his bible. He has had to sell his phone to get food and water, so he is now borrowing a phone. We are in touch with him daily at the moment to try and keep him on a good level keel.

As we got to the end of our conversation last night I asked him not to do anything silly and that those at St. Boniface would pray for him, his response was 'I need the spirit of God inside me to stop me from doing something stupid'

We will be sending out some cash to him this week to help with food. We have not been sending cash recently due to ambiguity as to what is being purchased, however, we feel it is essential now so he can get through what looks like a very difficult time.

We will let you know how things develop.

The Ball is Rolling

We have received confirmation from the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) that the PTA(Prison Transfer Agreement) has been signed by Steven. In fact, it was signed by Steven about a year ago in the hope that once all his court appearances are complete the process can be started immediately. It seems this has worked very well.

The only thinkg that is holding the process up at the moment is the official ruling from the court. There is no doubt what the court has decided, its just that the paperwork on the Nicaraguan side needs to be issued so it is official that Stevens sentence has now been agreed and is final.

We are trying to ascertain if there is anything we can do witht he Ministry of Justice to expedite the process, however, with it being a Nicaraguan thing it is likley that we will just have to wait until they issue the paperwork.

Rambling through an update.

Throughout the discussion with the FCO it has come to my attention that the PTA (prison Transfer Agreement) was actually set in place a couple of years ago specifically because of Steven. The Foreign Office knew that Steven had been imprisoned there and then set up an agreement between the UK and Nicaragua for prisoner transfers. How good is that!



Now that all appeals and court cases have been settled, we can now apply for Steven to be transferred back to the UK under this agreement. So, Steven will be the First person ever to be transferred from Nicaragua to the UK. Not entirely sure that’s a great achievement, but hey, I am not concerned.

Thing is, since it's the first time this agreement is going to be used, we have no idea how long the process will take. The FCO say it could be as little at 3 months or it may not happen until Steven is official released as a free man in April 2011. No-body knows. But what I have been assured is that if there are any hold ups it will not be on the UK side. The FCO confirm they have good procedures in place and it will be the Ministry of Justice (Jack Straws back Yard) here in the UK and in Nicaragua that will carry out the process. If the Nicaraguan Ministry of Justice drag their feet (lets face it all our experience to date has been of nothing but people dragging their feet, in fact, dragging the feet would suggest that they have gotten up off their backsides :-0 tut tut!) then there is not too much the British Government can do except keep pressure on.

I guess one of our prayers now should be that this process is a speedy one, not with delays and not with apathy, but that Nicaraguan authorities would want Steven out of their system just as much as we want him back and in ours.

The benefit of having Steven back here is that any remaining days left on his sentence will probably be reduced by 50%. Also, he will then be entitled to all the services that any other prisoner in the UK system is afforded. he will have a probation officer and receive help with resettlement, housing, clothes, welfare and education. He will not get any of this help if he is returned to the UK as a free man. SO thins is why we have started this process and because the conditions in UK prisons are probably a billion times better than in Nicaragua, plus he will get all the dental and medical care he needs.



All prisoners returned to the UK under such an agreement will be sent directly to Wandsworth Prison in London (picture above). An assessment of where he should be sent will be made at that time, however, since he will only have a few months left to serve it is quite likely that he will serve it out in Wandsworth, rather than be transferred to Winson Green. We will have to see what the options are; however, it will mean that we will be able to take his mother to London to meet her son who she has not seen for over 6 years. That will be an amazing moment.

In addition we will be celebrating his return as the prodigal son was received by the father in the famous biblical story. I am so looking forward to that.

All in all we could not have hoped for such progress. Even against the rickety grinding and aching pains of the Nicaraguan system we have come so very far. When we first met Steven he still had 19 of his 24 to serve, now he has 18 months maximum and maybe even less. God is such a gracious and merciful God!

Please do continue to pray for this man; it seems to me that this is a two part journey based in two different countries. It maybe that the Nicaraguan leg of this journey is coming to an end, or at least we can see the end of it, but the English journey has not even begun and that is one that could well hold just as many joys and disappointments as the first part. Its a story indeed, but its also a mans life and so as Jesus taught we must love all, regardless, indiscriminately, passionately and in the manner in which we love ourselves. The challenge is not actually to know and realise this, its not even to notice when its needed or preach about the merits of such a way of life, no, the challenge is quite simply having the guts to love others in such a way.

A famous Indian Spiritual Teacher once said 'We naturally love those who are dear to us, we must learn to give that kind of love to the whole world'. I claim these words in the name of Jesus Christ and I claim then as my ongoing challenge to the manner in which I live and the manner in which I love others around me, even those whom the world does not want to love.

Amen!

Numbers

We have had it confrimed from the FCO that as of Friday 4th Septemberm Steven Evitts is to serve 1 year, 7 months and 13th Days, which sees his official release from prison as 17th April 2011. Steven seems to think that this will be reduced base don work days that he can 'pay' for but we are currently not taking this into account.

We spoke to Steven last night and have confirmed that we are now starting the PTA (Prisoner Tranfer Agreement) process to have him returned to the UK to finish his sentence.

Finally - Decision (or could there be another one....)

Finally we have a decision from the court. However, the information has only been passed on from Steven so we are awaiting confirmation of the decision from the Honorary Consul.

Steven must serve 18 months prior to him being set free and returned to the UK. However, this could be reduced if he 'pays' for work days thus reducing his sentence potentially by half, however, we are aware that the wardens are exceptionally flexible with the administration of this somewhat interesting system and thus, we would rather work on 18 months and be surprised if his release happens earlier than that.

We are faced now with the dilemma of weighing the benefits of having Steven retuned via the PTA (Prisoner Transfer Agreement) or waiting until his sentence is up and complete. The benefit of having him transferred is that he will be afforded all the resources required from the Probation department and educational information and help with his release. He will not receive any of this if he is simply retuned to the UK as a free man in 18months time.

We are waiting to hear from the FCO what they are prepared to do.

In the meantime we are continuing the support we have for the last 8 months by sending books, money and by being in touch at least every 7 days. We are also preparing things back here for when he returns to the UK and may even get a chance to visit Nicaragua and help out more locally as well. We shall see what the future brings.

We want to say thank you to everyone who is interested in this man and for those who have prayed and offered money to help him. We are so very grateful and we know that Steven is overwhelmed by the support he is receiving.

A Big Day (We Hope!)

Ok, so we have been to court, and the 20 minutes that the judge said he wanted to make his decision has turned into a week. Today (Friday 4th September 2009) Steven returns to court to hear the judges decision concerning his release. I am expecting a phone call from Steven this evening to let me know how it all went.

Could this be the day he really does find out if he is going to be released? Who knows. What we do know is that anything can happen and so we wait...........

It's a Long Long Road!

With many a winding turn. but, he aint heavy, he's .. ............. You know the rest.

Whilst we put our faith in the bureaucracy that is the Nicaraguan Criminal system it seems those clichés of corruption and things taking forever just seem to be true. It's as if we can't get a thing done and when you finally think something is going to happen............................................... nothing! Just a chasm of zero gravity. it's so frustrating.

Poor old Steven thought he was going to be in court last Monday, what happened......... nothing.

Again, he was due in court today and what happened............ nothing!

It would not be so bad if someone came to him and said sorry mate it's been postponed cos the Judge is having tea with the Mayor or some other boloney, but it's just that nothingness thats infuriating. Surely if a man is not going to get his day in court and possible liberty he should be given the courtesy of being informed before his planned day in court comes and goes. Arggh.

Right then the angry stuff out of the way. It's getting a bit fraught now in Tipitapa. Steven was chatting to a woman who comes to visit someone else but he has gotten to know her. One of Steven's inmates overhead Steven say he was getting out soon. With Steven owing him C$200 (£10) this guy decided he wanted his cash there and then. So Steve got a beating in his cell, however, since Steve came a bit out on top he then was on the receiving end of a knife which meant he ended up with a few cuts to his neck. Nothing serious though.

However, since he has been in a fight it seems he may be sent to confinement. This could also have an adverse affect on his case, the judge is not going to look too kindly on the fact Steven has been fighting in prison regardless of whose fault it is.

We are left now not knowing when he will be in court. Steven is going to ring me as soon as he knows. Till then, all we can do is wait.

Delays (like being in an Airport!)

The hearing for Seven has been postponed from today until this Friday (14th August 2009). We have had no indication as to why it has been delayed.

We will of course let you know if there are any further developments. In addition to this we are setting Friday aside as a day of fasting and prayer and would welcome all who feel called to join us as we pray for Steven.

So far we ahve raised over £400 for the ticket home and so have about another £400 to raise. We want to thank everyone who has helped us raise this money. Thank you!

Dates again

Steven has just called. he reckons his next court date is the 11th August 2009. He is certain he is going to be freed on this date. I so hope his optimism is well founded. Regardless, we are praying for this reality and it is with sincere hope that he is released. If he is no tthen we will ahve to deal with what that brings.

If he is released he will be collected from the prison and taken to the immigration detention centre where he will be held until a ticket for his return to teh UK is provided. Again we are trusting in God to provide the money to enable us to buy the ticket which is going to be in the region of £800.

If you can, please pray for this man on this day bearing in mind that Nicaragua is six hours behind the UK.

May Gods will be done.

We will let you know of the outcome.

A corner and something around it!

It's taking some time, but we now know that the final hearing for Steven will be held this month. Steven is hoping that it will be held this coming week, however, we have no confirmation of this. Steven will call and let us know as soon as he does when his final visit to court will be. We await...

So far we have raised jsut short of £200 for Steven for which we are incredibly grateful. We also knwo that Steven is also very grateful and passes on his best wishes to all who have prayed for him and supported him. We still have a way to go though as a plane ticket is going to be in the region of £800. We trsut completely that God will provide as he sees fit and we strive to do his will always.

It's exciting, we know that Steven will probably end up back in Quinton in our community and we are building some support for him for when he does return. Steven is also aware of the reasons why he left Quinton and he wants so much not to return to the life he had before he travelled to Nicaragua. We feel the same too and hope we can be faithful to him so that we help his as much as is possible.

As soon as we have the court date we will let you know...................

Are my Ears Deceiving me????

I spoke with Steven's mom today who informs me that Steven is going to be released on Friday. This of course is not true, and is Steven getting excited about his forthcoming court appearance which was scheduled for Thursday 23rd July, but has now been posponed until next Thursday.

He has told me that his case has been closed and that he has papers saying he is going to be released after the final hearing. I have no way at present of confirming if this is true or not, I am waiting for information from the Honorary Consul in Mangua to confirm if this is indeed the case. If it is then this is nothing short of a miracle.

Again, if this is true we have the added burden of trying to find the money to pay for a flight back to the UK and for gaining an emergency passport. We can only surmise that this is somewhere in the region of £600.

We need to pray that this money can be found, and that indeed the hopes Steven has at the moment are founded on good reliable information.

I will of course add more once I know.

Dates (not yummy dates!)

We now have a date for the psychiatric evaluation. It is Monday 6th July 2009.

If you are able to pray, please do. This evaluation in whatever form it is produced will assist the judge in making his final decision about the length of time Steven has to serve. We have no idea what the report needs to say for it to be positive, but we simply ask that Gods will be done.

Also, we are desperately sorting a translator which should be appointed by the court. We learnt that the last translator appointed by the court never turned up to the evaluation and that is why it never took place. We have soken to the FCO and the Honorary Consul in Managua and have asked them to put pressure on the court to ensure the translator is indeed appointed and turns up. This is something we will continue to follow up a few times up to the appointment on the 6th.

If you wish to help financially please do get in touch with us at brendaquinn@hotmail.com - we are currentlty raising money to help Steven pay for a flight back to the UK, pay for a new passport (old one has been lost by the Nicaraguan authorities) and support him with food whilst he is still in prison.

Thank you for your prayers.