Justice for Stacey and help get her baby to the UK

I've started this fundraiser to help get justice for my sweet angel Stacey, who has been wrongfully accused of a crime and thrown into a Spanish prison without bail, despite having a daughter under a year old at home.

What do I want

All I want is Stacey to be home and safe with her little girl. We haven't had much joy with the state solicitor so would like funds to fight this injustice.

Cost Breakdown Short Version (see below for more details)

2,000 Euros: Solicitor

400 Euros: Money for Stacey inside

150 Euros: Solicitor transfer fee

£500: UK Solicitor letter

The Backstory




Stacey and I have been in love for almost ten years. In 2014 we moved to Southern Spain near Gibraltar to start a new life. We have always worked in Gibraltar and lived on the Spanish side of the border, so far successfully.




In 2019 Stacey fell pregnant with our first child Roxanne. Early February 2020, she had complications with her pregnancy, severe pre-eclampsia, and required urgent assistance. Though we did not intend to give birth in Spain as Gibraltar is only a few miles away, we were rushed to Cadiz hospital for an emergency Caesarian section.




I was on probation for a new job at the time, and as I had to take too much time of for the pregnancy, I lost the position.




Our little angel Roxanne was born in Cadiz on the 11th February, 9 weeks premature. Due to the complication and the early birth, we were kept in hospital for a month so that Roxy could be monitored. The language barrier was difficult. I speak a little Spanish however with the stress and sleep deprivation, it was difficult to interpret what was being said, so we had a rough time in the hospital.




Unfortunately, no-one told us that we had thirty days to register our child in Cadiz, so when we were sent back to our home in Puente Mayorga near the border of Gibraltar, we were already too late to register.




Due to the pandemic and the fact that I was not out of work, Stacey went back to work at her call centre job, albeit working from home.

 

We were sent home on the Friday and the Spanish State of Alarm was declared on the following Monday. I tried to get in touch with our local registry office in San Roque by telephone however there was no answer. After getting in touch with the Minister for Tourism and Foreign residents, I was given an email address.




I received an email April 19th stating that from the following Monday I could go to the registry office to apply for the birth certificate. We went with our newborn, only to be told we needed a handful of documents from different places, along with witnesses, in order to register our child late.




It is now December and we have still not been able to register our daughter and receive the birth certificate.







Throughout the pregnancy and after the birth, Stacey had a friend whom had always been very helpful. In October, he approached Stacey and told her that he was had been evicted from his house, and that he did not have identification to rent a new place. He asked us if he could live with us but we refused as we did not want another adult in the house with our newborn.




Stacey decided to rent a house with her passport for this friend. He paid for a month up front and agreed to pay up front at the beginning of every month.




Before the end of the first month, his house was raided by the Policia Nacional on Tuesday the 26th November, and many drugs were found in his possession, mostly cocaine. Stacey and I worried as the house was in her name, however she had done nothing wrong so we went to bed and slept well. At the time of his arrest, Stacey was working from home.




It was a busy day, so the call logs will show how many calls she took and at what times. Her friend was arrested around seven in the evening. Stacey's shift was from 5pm to 9pm.




The next morning, four persons knocked at the door. I answered, they demanded to see Stacey. They were in plain clothes but said they were the police. I asked for identification and instead of instantly showing me ID, they waved a gun at me and raised their voices. I insisted, so they went to the car and retrieved identification. They were in fact Policia Nacional.




I asked how long Stacey would be as we have an infant daughter that will need milk. I was told there is nothing to worry about, that she needs to answer a few questions and sign some papers, and that she would be an hour or two at the most.




Five hours later, I had not heard anything, so I went to the police station three miles away to enquire about her. I was alone with our infant so had to take her with me.




They allowed to me see her for a couple of minutes. Stacey told me that she is being kept overnight.




The next day I went back to the police station. I was told that she was no longer there and was in front of a judge in San Roque, another 6 miles away, so I walked home with our daughter.




I was then told by a man in the street near my home that Stacey had been sent to prison in Algeciras. I was shocked and couldn't understand why.




When Stacey managed to contact me on the telephone, she told me that her court paperwork is stating that she was in the house that was raided, while it was being raided. This is false evidence and her day job can prove it however due to Data Protection laws, they could not provide me a call log and the statement to prove her innocence. Stacey has now provided a letter to request these documents, however, it has been a slow process.




I handed the situation to Stacey's solicitor, a state solicitor as we could not afford, nor did we think we would need, a private solicitor.




A week later and the state solicitor has still not been in touch with Stacey, and is representing both her and the man who was arrested and found with the drugs.




The Three Issues




There are two issues that I am trying to resolve. I am trying to prove Stacey's innocence, as well as send our daughter to the UK to be safe with grandparents, however she can not be issued an emergency travel document without a birth certificate. I will then stay here in Spain and work with a private solicitor to fight Stacey's case.




The third issue is that I am alone in a foreign country with a daughter under a year old, as well as two dogs that we have had for years, so I cannot work as I am looking after our family. I have been told by the British Consulate, who have been helping with the Birth Certificate issue, that it could take up to six months to receive the certificate. As I have fallen behind with rent, my landlord has given me thirty days to leave this house. I am not sure if he can go through with this during the pandemic, however there have been evictions in Spain during the state of alarm, so we are all terrified.




Why do we need money?




I have been in touch with a private solicitor that speaks English, as it is very difficult to talk law in Spanish with my limited ability, and the process with the state solicitor has been slow.  He is happy to represent her in this case and has already given me more information in twelve hours than I've received from the state solicitor in 7 days.




Here is a breakdown of costs that I know of so far:




2,000 euros: Private solicitor fees: this is the amount needed on account to start proceedings. We have not been given an upper limit as we do not know yet what Stacey is being charged with so we do not know how far it will go. I have included the email below, blurring out names for Data Protection.






£500: A solicitor letter from the UK to change the legal guardianship to her grandparents for the time being.



3,450 euros: Our rent is 575 euros a month. If it takes up to six months to receive her birth certificate, this would amount to 3,450 euros.




150 euros: The fee for transferring from the state solicitor to a private one.


400 euros: Stacey went to the police station understanding that she would be out in a couple of hours. She has no money for amenities in prison and if suffering in quarantine.




I have neighbours helping with food, so I haven't costed that. I also have a couple of hundred in the bank so that will keep Roxy and I going for a little while.




As I have stated, these are only the costs that I know of. The legal system here is a slow and painful process, so more costs may arise in the future. So far I am asking for 6,100 to help us through this difficult time, get our daughter to the UK and get justice for my wife Stacey.




How you can help




If you can find it in your heart to donate anything to ensure I do not become homeless while fighting for Stacey, and to ensure my daughter is not taken by the Spanish authorities before she gets a passport, I would be forever in your debt.




If you cannot donate, please share my story widely. It is a story of injustice. The only thing my darling wife Stacey is guilty of, is doing a good thing for a bad person.




As a side note, I only have a UK bank account, so I have used my UK address to set this up. However as you can see from our story, we are currently stuck in Spain.




We are terrified due to the way the investigation has been carried out and the secrecy of the matter. We are not sure if Stacey has been set up by this other person and we are oblivious to what evidence is being used to justify separating a young mother from her vulnerable daughter.