A little help from our friends
Last month the extraordinary legal case of the Freshwater Five, was featured on CrowdJustice. Nicky Green, sister of imprisoned Jamie, tells what it’s been like to crowdfund for the next stage in their case, and how it’s affected the morale of her brother and his co-defendants.
The events of 31 May 2010
Until Monday 31st May 2010, my family was a close-knit, loving family, living and working alongside one another on the Isle of Wight. The events of that day completely shattered that, and the ripples are still causing heartbreak to this day.
My brother Jamie, is Skipper of the fishing boat, Galwad Y Mor.
For thirty years, he fished the seas around the Isle of Wight. Without realising it, on 29th May, when Jamie and his crew had set out like usual to collect their crab and lobster pots, they sailed into an enormous Serious Organised Crime Agency anti-drug smuggling operation, named Disorient.
Two days later, we found ourselves caught up in a storm of arrests and court hearings and ultimately the imprisonment of 5 men for a total of 104 years. Fortunately, I am very close to the families of the other men locked up with Jamie. I feel hugely lucky to have them to talk to. I can call them up and let off steam because they are the only ones who understand what it’s like. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to fight something like this on your own.
A breath of fresh air
Throughout this time, we worked with lawyers who tried to help us, but trapped within the legal aid rules, rushed by their billing targets, and up against the mighty resources of the Prosecution, somehow the innocence of my brother and his crew got lost along the way.
It wasn’t until we met Emily Bolton, founder of the Centre for Criminal Appeals, that anyone listened. She was a breath of fresh air, taking time to understand us and not taking crap from anyone else.
Getting a little help from our friends
I had never heard of crowdfunding before Emily mentioned it as a possible way of getting the money we need for the next step in Jamie’s case. Between the families, we’ve got quite an active group of people online who are in touch with us about the case — we’ve got a Facebook page and I set up a website a while back to keep everyone informed of what was going on.
But this was an opportunity for all those people to do something to help. The response was phenomenal. People reacted immediately. I even had an elderly lady I know, who wasn’t sure how to use the website, come into work and ask me if I could help her make a donation, so we sat in my restaurant with an iPad and did it.
The boys have been absolutely bowled over by the support from friends and strangers — so many people giving whatever they could afford. Jamie and the others are not in our world — to them this was the sort of thing you see in a film — everyone coming together to raise the money. For me, the best thing was knowing so many people have faith in them.
Now we’ve raised the money, we can take the next step in the case, and inch closer to the Court of Appeal, something we wouldn’t have been able to do without this campaign.
When you’re in this situation, it can feel so hopeless — the imbalance between you and the Prosecution is massive. We could never afford to defend the boys without the extra mile that Emily and the Centre for Criminal Appeals is prepared to go, and without the help of everyone who gave to our campaign. It has given us hope that one day, Jamie and his crew will be free to come home again.
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