Jasper Thomson used Together’s Criminal Justice Community Link Service. He had experienced issues with alcohol abuse and struggled to access mental health support. That led to problems with offending for Jasper and meant he came into contact with the criminal justice system.
Jasper first became aware of Together when he was recommended the service by his solicitor when he was facing further prison charges relating to assault. He described how situations he had found himself in had previously escalated because of his problems with alcohol. Those incidents and his actions in them impacted his mental health and led him to react badly to the authorities when placed in custody.
Jasper had struggled with his mental health for a lot of his life and felt things had gotten worse because of being in prison. That led him to self-harm at some stages and he described himself as being “in a sorry state”. He had been sectioned in the past while in police custody and hadn’t been aware this could happen in a criminal justice setting. He explained he thought a person would only be sectioned in a hospital or the community and described the whole process as confusing and disorientating.
The first contact Jasper had with Together was meeting Honor Sibthorp Protts in Highbury Magistrates Court and he told Honor his story and circumstances so she could document that. He was then referred to Community Link Worker Paul Richardson and in the film below Jasper describes the way Paul worked alongside him and how it “changed his life”:
Thank you Together for Mental Wellbeing!
Jasper
If you would like to find out more about Together please visit www.together-uk.org.
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