A 77-YEAR-OLD climate activist faces returning to prison because her wrists are too small to fit an electronic tag.

Gaie Delap was sentenced to 20 months jail time in August for taking part in a protest with Just Stop Oil (JSO) on the M25. 

Ms Delap was released in November on a home detention curfew, which requires her to wear an electronic tag.

But Serco, the company operating Electronic Monitoring Services (EMS), was unable to attach it to her ankle due to a health condition and did not have tags small enough to fit her wrists.

EMS confirmed to the group that when communicating with the prison, it said there was an “an inability to monitor” and that the case was no longer within its remit. 

The director of HMP Peterborough, where Ms Delap served her sentence, has now ordered a recall, even though she has complied with all conditions of the curfew and maintained regular contact with her probation officer.

Ms Delap is trapped in a triangulation of confusion, JSO says, with her probation officer claiming the issue falls under the director of HMP Peterborough, while EMS insists it’s the probation service’s responsibility.

Legal channels are now being pursued by Ms Delap to reverse the decision. 

Her GP has tried to contact the prison director on account of Ms Delap’s medical conditions, but he did not return the calls.

A JSO spokesperson said: “We’ve passed the 1.5 degree threshold that was supposed to keep us safe, as governments continue to serve the oil and gas lobby, while locking up grandmothers and teenagers for demanding necessary change. 

“In years to come, people will question the priorities of our judiciary and will ask ‘who were actually the real criminals’?”

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.