Man who spent 17 years in jail for crime he didn’t commit won’t have to repay costs as controversial rule scrapped
6 August 2023, 07:22 | Updated: 6 August 2023, 11:21
A divisive rule that deducts funds from compensation paid to those who have been wrongly imprisoned has been scrapped.
The UK’s justice secretary Alex Chalk KC scrapped the rule on Sunday with immediate effect, following the case of Andrew Malkinson, as he labelled the rule “abhorrent”.
Andrew Malkinson, 57, was found guilty of raping a woman in Greater Manchester in 2003 and was jailed for life with a minimum term of seven years.
Mr Malkinson stayed in prison for another 10 years as he maintained his innocence, insisting he would "not falsely confess to abhorrent crimes which he did not commit", his barrister Edward Henry KC said.
His conviction was overturned last month after another man was linked to the crime by DNA.
But despite his painful road to freedom, in another blow to his case he found out upon his release he may have still had to make a payment to the prison service for his bed and board out of his compensation.
People who are wrongly imprisoned for more than 10 years can receive up to £1m under a government compensation scheme.
However, a 2007 House of Lords ruling asserted that this figure could be reduced to take into account any “savings” an individual made on essentials such as housing and food while imprisoned.
Mr Malkinson said he was “sickened” by the rule in the wake of his release.
“Somehow the prison service has lobbied the Government in the early 2000s," he said.
"The result is that even if you fight tooth and nail and gain compensation you then have to pay the prison service a large chunk of that for so-called 'board and lodgings', which is so abhorrent to me. I am sickened by it.”
Compensation payouts for miscarriages of justice are assessed on a case-by-case basis by an independent assessor and will consider a range of factors - including the particular circumstances of any individual case.
But now the controversial rule has been scrapped after Mr Malkinson made calls for the living costs rule to be removed in the aftermath of his release.
The Justice Secretary confirmed the move, as he said it was a “common sense change which will ensure victims do not face paying twice for crimes they did not commit”.
“Fairness is a core pillar of our justice system and it is not right that victims of devastating miscarriages of justice can have deductions made for saved living expenses,” he added.
Following the news, Mr Malkinson has welcomed the change - although he still faces a two year wait before he receives compensation payment.
Mr Malkinson's appeal solicitor Emily Bolton said his maximum payment would work out at around £58,824 a year.
Ms Bolton, from the legal charity Appeal, told LBC News the wider compensation system also needs to be reviewed: "Rather meanly it's capped at £1 million.
“A million pounds would get you a flat in Shoreditch but it's not going to be enough to rebuild your life after a wrongful conviction.
“The other aspect of this law that is wrong is that it requires people who’ve been wrongfully convicted to prove their innocence beyond reasonable doubt all over again after the appeals process is finished.
“That is worse than nasty, that is wicked.”
“The state robbed Andy of the best years of his life," she said.
"Changing this one rule is not an adequate response. We need a complete overhaul of the appeals system, which took two decades to acknowledge this obvious miscarriage of justice.”
Andrew Malkinson tells Tom how he spent his time inside
While Mr Malkinson added: “It sounds, perhaps, to the average layperson like a lot of money. But that represents nearly two decades of living hell and lost opportunities, and lost love, and everything else that makes life precious."
“It's a step in the right direction. But there's much more that needs changing too,” he added.
However, the government will not reimburse previous people who were wrongly convicted and had the amounts deducted from their compensation.
Mr Malkinson is still calling for change in the prison system, as he wants to see more protections handed out to wrongly imprisoned people, as well as “consequences” for those responsible for the wrongful conviction.
He also said he wants to see the compensation system sped up, as he expects to wait two years before receiving compensation, struggling in the meantime.
The chair of the Commons Justice Committee, Conservative MP Sir Bob Neill, said he was “glad” the change had been made.
He continued: "There is a bigger piece of work that needs to be done about reforming compensation, both for victims of crime and for victims of miscarriages of justice, because the process is long-winded."
