AIDS, THE LOST VOICES
Will & Gloria delve into the British newspaper archives and attempt to unpick the real stories, of real people behind the sensational and attention-grabbing headlines of the 80s and 90s AIDS pandemic. Featured in this episode is the moving story of a 25-year-old man from Portsmouth, Paul Somes who died in Police custody in 1987.
Two national newspapers published articles devoid of any sympathy and instead chose to vilify and humiliate Paul for being an "AIDS sufferer" [living with HIV] before the entire nation. Will & Gloria seek to find any surviving family to give Paul a voice and a more accurate insight into what made this young man tick.
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In order to better aid our research into the articles of Paul Somes we made a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to Hampshire & IoW Constabulary. We sought any report that would have been made into Paul having passed while in police custody. We received the following repsonse on 24 March 2024:
“To confirm or deny whether personal information exists in response to your request could publicly reveal information about an individual or individuals, thereby breaching the right to privacy afforded to persons under the Data Protection Act 2018.
Disclosure of the requested information, if held, could create a loss of confidence in Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary to protect the wellbeing of the community.”
We had more than a raised eyebrow when we received this response, albeit, it is a standard response. But in the newspaper articles above of 7 January 1987 it was Hampshire Police who had no regard for the privacy of Paul Somes and his family. It was Hampshire police that shared Paul’s full name, age, and manner in which he died while in police custody. It was Hampshire Police who shared publicly (the whole of the UK via national newspapers) sensitive and confidential medical information without the consent of Paul nor his family, that he was an “AIDS sufferer”.
We hoped the report would perhaps substantiate how Hampshire police were able to boldly state, without Paul nor the families consent that Paul was living with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis given their alleged AIDS hysteria as outlined in the articles. Especially as we have been unable to find any supporting evidence of their claims that Paul was living with HIV/AIDS.
Given all the ‘personal information’ they state would be a breach of a person’s rights was already ‘confirmed’ by them in 1987 and remains in the public domain. This makes us slightly nervous about a lack of transparency by Hampshire police and only leads us to have a loss of confidence in the police as a whole.
We have consulted the family and if they’d like us to challenge this response.
Any third-party copyright material has been accessed through paid membership or incurred an administrative cost. Material has been used under the ‘fair use’ policy for the purpose of research, criticism and/or education, especially around the topic of HIV/AIDS. There has been no financial/commercial gain.
