This week
Just now, I got the news that Pauline Campbell has killed herself. I met her a few years ago when I was writing about how many women in prison kill themselves (a frightening, disgraceful number). Pauline's daughter Sarah killed herself in Styal prison in 2002, having ingested 100 tablets from the meds trolley. Since then, Pauline has done countless demonstrations at prisons. She was unfailingly elegant and organized, but she persisted in sitting down on cold tarmac in front of prison vans, no matter what. She was arrested a dozen times. The Authorities tried to prosecute her several times, but never dared. I wouldn't have dared either. Pauline had that singular energy that comes from being fuelled by grief and anger. Sometimes people come through that. She didn't or wouldn't. or couldn't. She died at Sarah's grave. I wish she hadn't but I understand why she did. An amazing woman. Rest in peace.
