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HERETICAL TWO GAOLED!
(Heroin dealers get less in "Good Ol' Democratic England")

The Heretical Two, Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle have been given ridiculously harsh sentences today at Leeds Crown Court.

Simon received 4 years and 10 months in prison.
Steve received 2 years and 4 months in prison.

The judge ordered that Simon will serve the full 4 years and 10 months. Steve will be released on good behaviour after 14 months. The 11 months they spent in Santa Ana Jail, California, USA was not counted as time off from their sentences.

Just before Simon and Steve were sentenced, the same Judge, Judge Grant, gave a habitual criminal with 18 convictions for assault, burglary, car theft and other assorted acts of dishonesty, a mere months curfew from 7pm to 7am for a street robbery where he snatched a mobile phone and attempted to steal a wallet from a youngster in Leeds.

There will be another hearing next Tuesday to prepare the way for an Appeal to the High Courts at the Strand regarding this sentence.

Below is a short summary of what the H2 have had to endure following their initial arrest over four years ago (from the HRP Blog):

The Heretical Two

The Heretical Two - Simon Sheppard and Steve Whittle were convicted at Leeds Crown court in 2008 for publishing 'racial material on an American website and 'did a runner' to the USA last July. They surrendered to the US authorities in order to publicise the loss of free speech in the UK. .They were kept in prison for 11 months, not allowed to smoke or make phone calls and had to wear orange overalls. They were not given legal aid because asylum is a civil matter which begs the question why were they treated as criminals and kept in prison - a classic catch 22.

They lost their Claim for political asylum in the USA on the 5th April 2009 when judge Peters, who had previously given sanctuary to an IRA terrrorist, dismissed the case. They had 30 days to appeal against the decision, but Simon subsequently contacted the authorities to say that they would not appeal. Simon Sheppard and Steve Whittle were deported from Santa Ana Jail via LAX on June 16 and arrived in London June 17, where they were arrested, taken briefly to Leeds court, and then to prison.

All as a result of writing on a web site in Torrance, California words protected by the First Amendment!

Please write to them at HMP Leeds, 2 Gloucester Terrace, Stanningley Road, Leeds, LS12 2TJ, UK - Simon's prison number is A8042AA, Steve's is unknown at present.

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