‘All my son can do is keep his head down... and wait’

Sixteen months into a decade-long sentence at Corradino Correctional Facility, Daniel Holmes sits in his cell waiting to hear about his appeal. He knows something about waiting, having seen almost six years and 65 court sittings drift by before a judge decided his marijuana-related offences posed a menace to society in 2011. With no appeal date in sight and time ticking by, his father Mel has now written to the President, Prime Minister and Archbishop seeking clemency and compassion. “In six years of court sittings, Daniel wasn’t once given the opportunity to speak up for himself,” his father said, between sips of coffee. “Now there’s nothing he can do but keep his head down and wait. But waiting doesn’t make the injustice any easier to swallow.” Mel Holmes flies to Malta from his native Wales as often as he can to visit his son. Visits from Daniel’s mother, Kathryn, are more limited: a medical condition prevents her from flying. There used to be the twice-weekly visits from his wife Marzena and toddler daughter Rainbow to keep his spirits high. But with no friends, family or social welfare support to help them get by, Marzena and Rainbow were forced to relocate to Wales, where...