Terry Allen – Hostage of the State
My activities among people in prison and hurt by the system frequently render me angry and disgusted by the corruption that seems to proliferate. Terry Allen’s case is one such example and in a recent letter placed in the public domain at his request, he told me –
“In 1969 I burgled the Horncastle Garage and stole some money, I worked
for the place and got questioned about the burglary but was never charged.
A while later I read in our local newspaper that a lad got sentenced to two
years in prison for my crime. I wondered how on earth did he get convicted
because obviously there couldn’t have been any evidence against him.”
Subsequently Terry was arrested for another burglary and he confessed to the Hornsby Garage job telling the local police an innocent man had been imprisoned for his crime, their reply –
“You ever tell anyone what you have just told me and you will find yourself
So deep in shit you’ll never find your way out of it.”

Terry was just seventeen years old at the time and he goes on to comment that “Reading police force have been setting people up for some time.”
At the moment Terry is confined to H.M.P. Coldingley having been found guilty on May 9th 1986 of the rape and murder of his friend twenty six year old Anita Kirkwood on July 17th 1985 – he received a life sentence with a tariff of sixteen years.
The day before Anita’s body was found ambulance men found Terry in a car trying to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. This followed a serious disagreement with his then common law wife and the ambulance men were forced to break his two front teeth in order to insert an airway. Following removal to hospital he was attached to a life support machine for two days and received a complete blood transfusion as his blood was shown to be 76% contaminated with carbon monoxide poisoning.
A week later police removed him from hospital. There were, then, no external injuries and Terry was questioned for two days. Then, when taken to H.M.P. Winchester Terry had a large burn hole in his right ankle and his left arm was bruised black and blue from wrist to shoulder.
One of the inevitable consequences of carbon monoxide poisoning is memory impairment. Terry has told me he remembers neither his time in police custody or his alleged confession. Neither does he remember ever being declared fit to be detained and questioned.
In documents that I have seen Terry argues as to the judge’s misdirection of the Jury and plans regarding an appeal are in hand. Terry’s case is another clear indication of the bullying and corruption that identify the British “Justice” system. Terry has even named the person he knows to be actually responsible for Anita’s death. In June 1986 he is visited in prison by police from Kidlington who confirmed his suspicions.
Terry was, at that time effectively declared innocent yet, the police told him they could do nothing as the case was closed and their hands were tied unless and until it was re-opened. Terry wrote to the home office who contacted the relevant police force only to be told that Terry had lied to them and that he was, in their view, guilty of Anita’s murder.
This is a necessarily brief summary. I would ask concerned comrades to write to Terry expressing solidarity, he is at –

Terrence William Allen
A6119AO A102
H.M.P. Coldingley
Bisley
Woking
Surrey
GU24 9EX
George Coombs