A 58-year-old woman currently battling stage three aggressive breast cancer is being denied chemotherapy and radiotherapy in prison. Farah Damji has been on remand for 13 months.
“He stole one year of my life when I just don’t have time and I should have been with my friends and family recovering from surgery and getting chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but that’s not possible from a prison.” Damji says.
At Wood Green Crown Court on March 27th 2025, during the sixth hearing concerning the provenance of key emails in the case, Damji has been accused of harassing and stalking her former partner, Nigel Gore-Davis. A screenshot of forwarded messages, allegedly from Gore-Davis, was presented as evidence. Gore-Davis, a self-proclaimed security expert, is reportedly refusing to hand over his laptop for forensic analysis.
Prosecutor Christiane Moll admitted that without access to Gore-Davis’ device, the emails cannot be properly verified. A forensic defense specialist from CYFOR, a digital investigation firm, has been appointed to examine the metadata, IP addresses, and geolocation data of the messages. This analysis is crucial to establishing whether the emails that led to the charges are authentic.
The court heard that determining the provenance of these messages is central to the Crown’s case against Damji. Damji’s supporters are campaigning for her release so she can access necessary cancer treatment.
PRESS ATTENDANCE REQUESTED AT:
WOOD GREEN CROWN COURT
FRIDAY 27TH MARCH 2025
Dr Jake Hard is Clinical Director at HMP Cardiff and the Associate Clinical Director for the South West Prisons for Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and a member of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody. He wrote a report for the court back in April 2024, saying that for radiotherapy treatment Damji would need to be taken by the prison every day for 15 sessions over three weeks. He said due to a lack of officers, other prisoners would not get out to their appointments, or the transport from prison to hospital would simply be cancelled when staff are moved to other parts of the prison for emergencies.
Dr Hard said: “I would say Farah’s chances of radiotherapy while in prison are at zero. If she was admitted to hospital it would have much more chance of success, it doesn’t make sense.
Admit her to hospital, give her the treatment she needs then send her back to prison. At the moment it is unlikely to go ahead, I can’t see how the prison can manage the logistics. If I were her GP, I would be pushing to get her this treatment as an inpatient.”
“It’s inhumane to keep a woman in custody while denying her life-saving cancer treatment, when the complainant has failed to provide proper evidence. Every day women’s cases are dropped even after being forced to hand their data over to the defendant, it shows a real double standard that supports abusive men to win in the criminal justice system either way.” Cally Reed, feminist campaigner
For further quotes and info, contact:
Janna Arnold
Freefarahcampaign@gmail.com
07425750459
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Farah’s suffering has been exacerbated by severe health complications and neglect. After a 13-hour
surgery, she was chained for 23 days to a prison officer 24/7 until her solicitor threatened HMP Bronzefield Director Jonathan French with a pre-action letter. Farah was hospitalized from 20 April 2024 for three months with life-threatening infections, without regular access to fresh air. Despite offering £30,000 in cash security and her surgeon’s plea for urgent chemotherapy, Judges denied her bail on four separate occasions, stating that ‘no conditions will satisfy the Court’. Judge Joanna Greenberg KC acknowledged the prison’s inability to provide proper healthcare but still denied bail.
Judge Joanna Greenberg KC requested for the third time that the complainant voluntarily provide his medical records. Gould-Davies claims Farah’s actions affected his life so severely that he fled to Berlin, needed medication, and suffered trauma. The Police National Computer and other sources confirm that he kicked his former girlfriend Miss Lee out of their home in the middle of the night and she had to seek refuge in a neighbour’s flat.
Farah, facing cancer while held in prison, described her situation to Judge Greenberg as akin to being tried for rape without the victim providing a rape kit. The case has already resulted in Farah’s
twelve-month incarceration, despite her innocence and serious health issues. Under English Law, a Court can only detain someone on remand for up to 6 months without a formal review of the custody time limits. Where the prosecution has deliberately held back disclosure to disadvantage the defendant, bail should be granted. The second extension of the custody time limits was challenged in a judicial review in the High Court. The repeated extension of the custody time limits sets a very unfortunate legal precedent which is even the more remarkable because the Police and CPS have failed to present any hard evidence, beyond unverifiable screenshots and forwarded emails, that any of the allegations have any substance.
12 months after Farah’s arrest, the CPS continues to drag its feet over the disclosure of key evidence. Much of the prosecution’s case depends on the content and provenance of phone calls, text messages and emails and clear guidelines exist for how telecommunications data
should be collected and presented to the Court so as to preserve the chain of evidence and of continuity. In early submissions, the CPS tried to present screenshots of text messages but the defence tried to reject them as easily falsifiable. Just two weeks ago, the Police Officer delivered to ITN Solicitors a memory
stick allegedly containing email downloads but this was rejected because the Judge had previously ordered for the emails to be downloaded by the forensic telecoms company CYFOR. In a similar vein, the prosecution is claiming to have checked Gould-Davies’ medical records and say there is nothing to disclose, however his GP surgery at Brunswick Medical Centre have confirmed that there has been no request for a download of his NHS records which contradicts the CPS fiction. This is relevant as he complains that his mental health has suffered as a result of the harassment that he alleges. In fact, Gould-Davies who describes himself as the UK leading security expert on Russia and whose reputation is founded on a cool head and stable mind, has long-standing mental health issues and was taking psychotropic medication before and during the relationship.
It is becoming increasingly evident that the prosecution doesn’t have any hard evidence to support the spurious allegations. It is scandalous that the Court has allowed the case to proceed for so long and has blocked all bail applications without any evidence that has been produced in accordance with the Attorney-General’s disclosure guidelines. A pre-trial case management hearing on Friday 21 March will decide whether screenshots of messages and forwarded emails can be used as evidence in the trial on Monday 7 April and whether to make an order forcing the disclosure of Gould-Davies’ medical records. Clare Simms from the View CIC states:
“It is a travesty of justice when a rather sad 60-year-man’s only evidence is forwarded emails and screenshots and that this can lead to the unreasonable detention before trial of a very vulnerable breast cancer patient. This case in Wood Green Crown Court stems from the View’s complaints to Gould-Davies’ employer International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) about his conduct,
mistreatment and physical violence against a close friend and colleague, Farah Damji, one of the original founders of the View Magazine. Subsequently, all of us at the View sustained a year-long campaign of harassment and stalking by Nigel Gould-Davies leading to the View CIC serving him with a Cease and Desist letter on 28 Feb 2025. CPS barristers of last resort Christiaan Moll and Jonathan Gold have attempted to cover up the deliberate obstruction of disclosure and delays which caused the trial date to be put back by 5 months. “While we are sympathetic towards people suffering from poor mental, it is unfair to blame others. The fact is that Nigel Gould-Davies has long-standing problems that date to his childhood and it is wrong for him to blame this on a relationship and on fictitious claims of harassment. The CPS are
fully aware of this, yet have been actively preventing his medical records from being disclosed without even having them.
Clare also states: “Nigel claims that he did not know who Farah really was for the duration of their 7- month relationship, even though they lived together and he attended hospital
appointments with her. After the relationship ended, he contacted barrister Barbara Rich who represents the most vulnerable people in the Court of Protection yet relentlessly attacked the View Magazine at every opportunity. Rich was questioned by the Police in October 2021 after a series of tweets on X. This raises serious questions about Gould-Davies’ judgement as a security expert on Russia and expert witness.
“The CPS and Police are not interested in the truth. I have attended Islington Police Station to confirm my identity and to meet Trainee Detective Constable Yasmin Rinsler. I have confirmed that I will give evidence at the trial to the CPS and to the Crown Court, but no-one appears to be interested in justice, only in securing a conviction at any cost. In this distressing case, the
cost is too high. It is the life of a much loved mother, friend and human rights campaigner’s life and we will not sit by and watch shrivelled old angry white men embedded in establishment institutions to get away with this harrowing miscarriage of justice. I’m calling on every woman who cares about justice to attend Farah’s trial on 7 April at Wood Green Crown Court.” Farah Damji says: “This trial relies on digital evidence but one year later we still don’t have downloads of original emails and text messages. I am worried about Judge Greenberg’s ability to manage this case because she forgets what she previously ordered. On 14 Nov 2024, she ordered the CPS to send medical records to her so that she could decide what should be disclosed. In February, there were three hearings about how the digital information should be downloaded properly but this still hasn’t been done. She also doesn’t understand the importance of meta-data being preserved in digital communications. There is no consistent case management and I am really worried that I will be convicted on screenshots and forwarded emails without metal data. I never thought that swiping right on Nigel on Bumble could lead to a death sentence. I feel sorry for him, he has been pushed into doing this by IISS after he defied Jane Graham’s order to break up with me in November 2023. He hates IISS and what it represents and was always jealous of the View Magazine and what we do, which touches women’s lives. He stole one year of my life when I just don’t have time and I should have been with my friends and family recovering from surgery and getting chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but that’s not possible from a prison. I asked Nigel to make happy memories so that I could get through the cancer, instead he’s done his very best to ensure that I never get better. I don’t understand this kind of cruelty, it’s insane.”
The View’s campaign seeks to raise awareness of Farah’s case, urging the public to share her story, contact local MPs, and support the GoFundMe campaign to fund a report on cancer in women’s prisons. This is an ongoing effort to highlight the systemic injustices Farah is facing in her trial and
prison. For further information about Wood Green Crown Court, please see our Change.Org campaign.
Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1893705/episodes/16057755
MP letter:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ux9gt4vCU6Coz9OjcAyJZOdfQlCT6kOL_TXT638FkQ8/e dit?ta b=t.0
GoFundMe link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/minoritized-patient-shackled-24-7-after-cancer surgery
Change.Org campaign:
https://www.change.org/p/demand-the-removal-of-judge-joanna-greenberg to-safeguard-women-and-girls
The View CIC is the only platform by and for women in the justice system. It provides a space for women in conflict with the law to share their art, words, and poetry, amplifying their trauma, hope and resilience. Their quarterly publication highlights the injustices women face. The View produces the Rebell Justice podcast and successfully started The View Café in London in 2023. Here, we highlight the plight of Farah Damji caught up in the criminal justice system. We call for society to acknowledge the harm done to women, their children, and communities, and to understand their trauma. We advocate for the mass decarceration of women who pose no risk,
improved training for legal professionals, and better funding for social justice initiatives. 5 years since the magazine was conceived as a prison publication, we remain committed to reframing justice. Join us in building a fairer, more inclusive justice system.
The View CIC
Contact: Claire Sims
Email: admin@theviewmagazine.org
Mob: 07591 185151
13 Caledonian Rd, London, N1 9DX
Podcast:
MP letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ux9gt4vCU6Coz9OjcAyJZOdfQlCT6kOL_TXT638FkQ8/edit?tab=t.0
GoFundMe link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/minoritized-patient-shackled-24-7-after-cancersurgery
Change.Org campaign: https://www.change.org/p/demand-the-removal-of-judge-joanna-greenbergto-safeguard-women-and-girls
WOMAN HELD ON REMAND IN PRISON DENIED ACCESS LIFE-SAVING CHEMOTHERAPY TREATMENT