The freed anarchist prisoner spoke about solidarity and abolition at the Brighton Cowley Club
~ Elizabeth Vasileva ~
A talk by anarchist ex-prisoner Toby Shone at the Cowley Club in Brighton drew almost 20 people on Friday (7 March). It was a nice atmosphere and a positive reception for Toby.
Friends and comrades writing, visiting, and organising firework demos outside the prison were immensely helpful in keeping his spirits up, he said. So was organising with other prisoners, supporting each other and showing solidarity. Toby observes that the system cannot accept prisoners showing solidarity with each other, and that is the real strength he found on the inside. “The state machine is terrified of the links we make with each other”, he says, arguing that the conditions in prison are emblematic of a society which has reached its end days. Listening to Toby, it is easy to conclude that the only appropriate action to take about prisons is to abolish them.
Toby Shone was arrested under operation Adream in 2020 for involvement in project 325. Adream was an anti-terrorist investigation by multiple state agencies to against the 325 anarchist collective born out of rave culture and squats in Brighton in the early 2000s. They published a zine and a website, spreading information about various anarchist activities.
Toby was arrested following a few occasions where vehicles were burnt in the Bristol-Bath area. He was accused and charged with administering the 325 website for ‘distribution of terrorist publications’, ‘funding terrorism’ and ‘possession of information used for terrorist purposes’. A whole bunch of FAI, ELF and ALF direct actions were also pinned on him, while the police were raiding his house, his friends’ houses, collective project spaces and vehicles. Although it was acknowledged that there were no leaders, the state tried him on leadership charges and attempted to link his activities to foreign anarchist ‘bosses’ in Greece. Fortunately, few of these allegations stuck and Toby was ultimately kept on drug charges.
In November 2024, Toby finally came out after 5 years in various high-security prisons. In the talk he focused mainly on prison conditions, a critique of the criminal justice system, the actions of state agencies to keep him there, and the support he received from comrades.
Prisons, Toby commented, are horrendous places: “Ain’t no human rights in jail. You get treated the way you get treated”. Lack of bedding, lack of proper food, lack of hygiene and sanitary facilities, rooms that have never been cleaned, no gyms or outdoor space…the list continues. This brings you down, but what is even worse is the way human beings get treated. For some, the isolation, trauma and pain are unbearable. People inside harm themselves in desperation, and nobody calls emergency services or even goes to check in on them.
There is no ambiguity in Toby’s experience—human lives are wasted, there are no opportunities for rehabilitation, and rarely even possibilities for studying, self-development or any activities that make a meaningful life. “In these circumstances you need to find a reason inside you to be there. The reason is we are revolutionaries, we want a better world, we want it for everyone”, he said.
Top photo: Solidarity demo with Toby outside Cardiff probation office, March 2024
