UK Changes Law Deducting Living Expenses from Pay Outs to Wrongfully Imprisoned Citizens

I just brought you the story about a man in Atlanta being sued by the city for the cost of demolishing his house, which they did by mistake. I told my colleague about this absolutely shameful debacle, and, not to be outdone, he countered with one from the UK: charging innocent people wrongfully imprisoned for the pleasure of their incarceration upon release.

This change comes in the wake of the case of Andy Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. 

The BBC explains,

“People who are wrongly jailed for more than 10 years can be paid up to £1m under a government compensation scheme.

But since a House of Lords ruling in 2007, that total figure can be reduced to take into account “savings” individuals made on things like housing and food while imprisoned.

However, the Ministry of Justice said its independent assessors who make the deductions have not done this in the last 10 years.”

First of all, £1 million seems low. Second of all, what about people wrongfully imprisoned for less than 10 years? What do they get, a high five and heartfelt (form) apology letter??

But most importantly, WHAT THE F*CK?? If you actually commit a crime and serve time, your room and board is on the taxpayer. But if you were jailed wrongly for a crime you DID NOT COMMIT, suddenly you’re on the hook? Make that make sense.

OH WAIT, YOU CAN’T.

Fortunately for Malkinson and wronged Brits the country over, he made a stink about the absolute GARBAGE rule. And I don’t blame him, because his particular situation is actually worse than being wrongfully imprisoned for a crime you didn’t commit:

“Mr Malkinson was originally sentenced with a seven-year minimum term but was held for much longer because he refused to admit to a crime he knew he did not commit.

He was released in 2020 having always maintained his innocence and could now be in line for compensation after his conviction was formally quashed after his latest appeal.”

If I were Malkinson, £1 million wouldn’t even BEGIN to cut it. Frankly, I don’t think a price can be put on not only having your most basic liberties robbed of you, but being subsequently released into a world without any resources, tools, or support to navigate it. 

Which is why I propose an alternative: people who are imprisoned for crimes they did not commit should get one of two options. The first, a monetary payout along the lines of what already exists (though MUCH higher). The second, the opportunity to count the years spent wrongfully imprisoned toward any future crimes. So if Malkinson, for example, wanted to commit crimes that would land him a 15-year sentence, he should be able to count 15 of the 17 years he was locked up and have two years left in the bank.

Pros: It’s a more even quid-pro-quo; it would hold the justice system more accountable

Cons: ?????