You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Many aspects of this case are extremely worrying in terms of how he has been treated by the Greater Manchester Police, the courts, the parole boards etc. etc.
Listening to his interview on the Today programme he is clearly (and justifiably IMO) angry yet he was dignified and articulate throughout. What made me utterly shocked was that if/when he gets compensation for his 17 years imprisonment for something for which he was completely innocent, he will be expected to pay for all 17 years board and lodging - historically this would be at least 25% but could be more. How can that be morally acceptable?
Given what he's been through, the anger is entirely justified and remarkably well controlled.
His description of prison life as a wrongly convicted sex offender was disturbing and absolutely terrifying.
I just heard that feature about wrongly convinced people being billed by the state and it's quite shocking. The idea that you can't 'benefit' from being wrongly imprisoned seems perverse because no amount of compensation can return the years you've lost. It must feel like a sick joke.
What made me utterly shocked was that if/when he gets compensation for his 17 years imprisonment for something for which he was completely innocent, he will be expected to pay for all 17 years board and lodging – historically this would be at least 25% but could be more. How can that be morally acceptable?
I had no idea that was the case. Just a final insult to all that injury. If it's not deducted at source, I'd rather emigrate than pay a penny of that. Come to think of it, if the state had treated me the way it's treated him, I doubt he'd want to stick around anyway.
And the root cause fuels the problem in some circles that the Police s an organisation can't be trusted, and hasn't fundamentally changed its leopard spots in decades - whether the Brum 4, or Stephen Lawrence, or forged evidence for Hillsborough, or continued avoidance of scrutiny for police violence at Orgreave, or the widespread racism and misogyny still evident in multiple forces even today.
What made me utterly shocked was that if/when he gets compensation for his 17 years imprisonment for something for which he was completely innocent, he will be expected to pay for all 17 years board and lodging
Whilst I’d like to think that anyone awarding compensation would take that into account when coming up with a suitable compensation figure, the very fact that that is factored is indeed a sick joke
perhaps if he’s made to pay for his ‘lodgings’, he can claim that the accommodation and food wasn’t up to scratch and claim a refund, very much in same way that if an innocent man stays in a hotel and it’s crap they usually get their money back…
I haven't read the news item about this specific case but a lot of people would be shocked if they knew how the justice system in UK works. Even if you successfully defend yourself against being accused of a crime you didn't commit there is a chance you are still paying your own costs for that defence and will not be compensated and end up selling your house etc to cover it.
His speech outside the court was powerful and moving. Trying to imagine yourself in that position is horrifying. His original sentence was 7 years and he could have been released then if he had confessed to the crime he didn't commit. Effectively an attempt at a forced confession - something I always associated with dodgy legal systems in unsavoury regimes overseas. That can't be right? Penalising someone for maintaining their innocence?
He had the courage and self respect to undergo the torment of additional years of terrifying imprisonment as a sex offender, with all the physical and emotional risks that entails, rather than lose his dignity and self respect by admitting something he knew he hadn't done.
There are so many worrying aspect to this. The only evidence was from a heroin addict and petty criminal who seemingly had some charges against him dropped after he testified against Malkinson, clear incentive to perjure himself. The jury weren't told of the witness's addiction or criminal record. There was no physical evidence at all. The DNA evidence from another individual on the victims clothes has been known about since 2009.
All this time the real perpetrator has been at large and remained a threat to others. Half his adult life wasted. I really hope he gets the absolute maximum compensation possible. I also hope those involved in the negligent 'investigation' are investigated and held to account. GMP have also been in the news this week for degrading treatment of women prisoners including possible sexual assaults against them. The Met must be grateful the spotlight is off them for a while. I've mates in the police and know they have a tough job, but jeez they have more than their fair share of wrong uns.
I just listened to this interview on Today programme. Wow, powerful stuff.
Even if you successfully defend yourself against being accused of a crime you didn’t commit there is a chance you are still paying your own costs for that defence and will not be compensated and end up selling your house etc to cover it.
Yes, the Secret Barrister books are eye opening on this. The push to stop Legal Aid being abused by "the wrong types" means that if I was accused of murder my family would be better off if I pleaded guilty or topped myself.
AIUI, the compensation is capped at £1M and he could be reduced by 25% of it. And the compensation isn't for the loss of liberty, the hurt, but rather lost earnings etc. while he was inside. The guilty aren't required to pay anything for lodgings.
As others have said, the prospect of being falsely accused, and having to pay your own legal fees can ruin innocent people. Some of which will use life savings, sell houses, etc., and then shortly before trial have the Crown drop the case because there is no case. The Secret Barrister is a very scary read.
That can’t be right? Penalising someone for maintaining their innocence?
I can see why they wouldnt want to release someone early who has shown no remorse and claiming innocence could be seen to indicate that. I believe they also dont get to do rehabilitation courses so it makes it even more complicated.
There must be a threshold though when people look at it and say they have been a model prisoner the entire time and have served beyond the point they would have got released.
I am looking forward to the papers putting the same effort into demanding answers here as they did into Farage whining.
It looks like the head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission has gone, although she's moaning that she's been made a scapegoat and not accepting responsibility.
The poor bloke's still waiting for his compensation too!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yewwrgd5zo