the birthmark

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Sept 3, 2009 A DOUBLE murderer serving a life sentence in Durham has won a High Court victory in his long campaign for cosmetic surgery to remove a birthmark. The policy restricts prisoners' appointments for cosmetic and certain other treatments regarded as non-urgent – even though the Government publicly said prisoners were entitled to the same NHS treatment as the rest of the population. Roberts, 59, has won a declaration at London's High Court that Justice Secretary Jack Straw acted unlawfully and "contrary to good administration" in failing to disclose his full policy on medical appointments. Nonetheless, Roberts and his lawyers continued the fight for a formal High Court declaration to make the legal position clear for other prisoners. the birthmark