THE PLIGHT of a prisoner who has not been allowed to speak Welsh to his own family has been the subject of debate at Westminster.
Martin Tate, 25, of Caernarfon, is currently serving an 18 month sentence at HMP Holme House, Stockton-on-Tees, after admitting aggravated vehicle taking and assault last year.
Having heard that prison staff have been cutting off phone calls when he has spoken in Welsh, Arfon MP Hywel Williams decided to take his case to the prison authorities.
He said: “Martin Tate's situation is both unfair and wholly unacceptable.
"The prison authorities insistence that Martin speaks English with his family leads to his young son, Owain, and his mother also being punished through being denied the right to talk in their own tongue.
“I have taken up the matter in Westminster and expect the Department of Justice to change this ruling immediately.”
Martin's mother, Linda Jones, has spoken of her frustration of not being allowed to speak Welsh to her son.
She said: “It's not right that I'm not allowed to speak Welsh to my own son. We've always spoken Welsh to each other, so to be told to speak English is a very strange feeling.
“His six-year-old son, Owain, can only speak Welsh, so he hasn't been able to speak to him at all."
The Prison Service have issued a clarification of the rule, stating that prisoners aren't denied the right to speak to their own language, and that Martin's calls were being cut short due to failure to comply with prison regulation.
A spokesperson for the prison service said:
“Prisoners who need to have their phone calls monitored for security reasons are able to make phone calls in any foreign language, providing they give 48 hours notice for interpretation services.”