Chiswick girl visits 'Angola Three'

Aug 26 2008 By Jessica Thomas

Poppy in Angola

An 11-year-old Chiswick schoolgirl has become the youngest ever British person to visit prisoners in the US state of Louisiana.

Poppy Richards travelled all the way to Angola Prison to meet the two longest serving inmates in solitary confinement, members of the 'Angola Three' who have spent over 35 years held in 6ft by 9ft cells after being convicted of the murder of a prison guard.

Poppy, who starts at Chiswick Community School in September and wants to become a human rights lawyer, started writing to the men as part of a project last year while she attended Belmont Primary School.

She said: "My mum told me about the men and I really wanted to do something. After the project was over I kept writing to them as friends. Going to the prison was really scary but when you see the people you are visiting it makes you really happy. It was heart breaking to leave them."

Poppy visited the prison on August 9 and spent four hours talking with Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, who until recently spent a minimum of 23 hours a day in their cells.

The pair were found guilty in 1973 and 1974 but their convictions are currently under appeal and they hope to be freed soon after claiming they were framed for the crime due to their political activism with the Black Panther Party.

Poppy's mother Carrie Reichardt, a 41-year-old artist who has used art to try and highlight the men's plight, said: "I feel it is important for me to pass on an awareness of some of these injustices to my daughter," she said. "These men have been held in horrible conditions, in tiny cells for years on end, convicted with little or no evidence. They deserve our support."