18th September 2025
Luba Macpherson, is facing a situation that raises serious questions about how we treat educated and capable women in our justice system.
Luba, who first came to Britain in 1997 from Russia, has always been committed to learning and contribution. She came over to do voluntary work at a Camphill community, helping to care for vulnerable people. At first, she and her now husband could only communicate with the help of a pocket English-Russian dictionary — but within a short time, Luba had learned enough English to hold conversations, cook traditional English dishes, and begin building a life here.
Her daughter developed a fascination with 19th-century Academic Art, exploring European movements entirely on her own via her computer. She also wrote and collected poetry, building an online blog with readers from across the world.
Her passion for language led her to study interpretation, pass assessments, and even secure a role with Sunderland City Council as an on-call translator for Russian speakers in hospitals or custody situations. She was later offered a place at Birmingham University to train as an accredited translator — a demanding course requiring the translation of 5,000 words from Russian into English as part of the entrance exam. But now, after being imprisoned in a Sunderland “care” home, she has had her computer and phone confiscated. She cannot access her art studies, cannot post to her poetry blog, and cannot communicate with her friends — some of whom she has known since childhood — back in Russia.
Mr Melia, Chief Executive of Sunderland Council is very proud of his OBE. Has he anything else to be proud of? Luba is currently in a Category A prison for publicly trying to help her disabled daughter.
