Ministers are facing calls to refund other miscarriage of justice victims after the Government intervened to stop a man jailed for 17 years for a rape he did not commit from paying living costs for his time in prison.
Andrew Malkinson, 57, won his 20-year battle to clear his name after he was convicted of raping a woman after a trial in Greater Manchester in 2003, in what the former security guard slammed as a ‘set up’.
Appeal judges quashed his conviction last week after DNA linking another man to the crime was produced.
But the 57-year-old expressed concern that the rules meant expenses could be deducted from any compensation payment he may be awarded to cover the costs of his jail term. He described the rule as ‘abhorrent’, ‘very silly’ and ‘very vindictive’.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC then intervened to change rules covering wrongly convicted people with immediate effect on Sunday after the miscarriage of justice case of Mr Malkinson sparked outrage. Downing Street indicated that the Prime Minister believed the deductions were unfair amid demands to drop the charges.
Now, MPs are calling for ministers to go further and refund miscarriage of justice victims who have already had their compensation docked. Sir Bob Neill, the Tory MP who chairs the Commons Justice Committee, said he was ‘delighted’ that Mr Chalk has ‘moved so swiftly on this’.
But he added: ‘I wonder if the Government could consider ex-gratia payments on a case-by-case basis to make up for that if people can demonstrate they fulfil all the criteria.’
Andrew Malkinson, who served 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London
Sir Bob Neill, the Tory MP who chairs the Commons Justice Committee, and Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Alistair Carmichael have called for ministers to pay back the money already deducted from wrongly convicted individuals
Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Alistair Carmichael echoed the sentiment. ‘To take someone’s liberty wrongfully and then charge them for prison living costs reads like some kind of sick joke,’ he said.
‘The Government must now review past cases where people have been forced to pay for saved living expenses after being wrongfully convicted with the view to compensate these individuals fully.’
Mr Chalk has updated the guidance dating back to 2006 to remove them from future payments made under the miscarriage of justice compensation scheme.
The reform to eligible cases was broadly welcomed, but there were calls to pay back the money already deducted from wrongly convicted individuals.
The Justice Secretary said: ‘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.
‘This common sense change will ensure victims do not face paying twice for crimes they did not commit.’
Speaking to Sky News about the rule, Mr Malkinson said: ‘I think it is abhorrent. It is a very silly, very vindictive, actually. It is completely necessary.’
In order to be eligible for a payment, people must apply for compensation within two years of being pardoned or having their convictions reversed.
Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk made the change covering wrongly convicted people with immediate effect on Sunday
Andrew Malkinson arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, ahead of his hearing at the Court of Appeal over his 2003 rape conviction
Mr Malkinson outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, on May 3, 2023. He had his conviction for rape referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) over new DNA evidence
The reversal must be on the basis of a new fact that demonstrates ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ they did not commit the offence and they must not be responsible for the non-disclosure of the evidence.
The maximum payments under the miscarriage of justice compensation scheme is £1 million for more than 10 years’ imprisonment.
Independent assessors could make deductions based on ‘saved living expenses’ such as rent or mortgage payments.
But the Ministry of Justice said the independent assessor has not done this in the last 10 years.
Mr Malkinson was found guilty after a 2003 trial surrounding the rape of a young mother who was left on the embankment on a motorway in Salford.
The following year he was jailed for a life with a minimum term of seven years but remained in prison for a further 10 because he maintained he was innocent as he continued to live out a ‘joyless existence’ behind bars.
Speaking days after his conviction was ruled unsafe, Mr Malkinson harrowingly revealed that he thought he would very likely die in prison. It was only the thought of his mother, Trisha Hose, 70, and his unwavering drive to prove his innocence that kept him going.
‘I thought, I’m going to live and show them the truth someday, one day,’ he told the Telegraph.
‘I’ve always known I’m innocent. The fact they’ve overturned it is vindication, but they’re just confirming the earth isn’t flat to me.’
Earlier this week the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) admitted the conviction was unsafe because there ‘must now be a real possibility’ Mr B will be charged with the attack.
Mr Malkinson, who is originally from Grimsby, was released on a strict life licence in December 2020 and up until this week he was still labeled a rapist – ‘the worst thing a man could ever be accused of’, the innocent man said.
It led him to contemplate dying. He told the paper: ‘I didn’t want to experience any more pain. I wanted to not exist.’
At the time of the trial he said he knew ‘he was being set up’ but ‘didn’t know how.’
After this weeks victory, he went back to his lawyers office in Clerkenwell, east London, to celebrate before heading back to his hotel and falling as asleep after two decades of being ’emotionally exhausted’.
During all those years in a jail cell, Mr Malkinson vowed to himself that if he ever got released he was ‘not going to shut (his) mouth)’.
The father-of-one is still coming to terms with the number of years he has lost. He says he was ‘cheated’ of his younger years, being only 37 when he was arrested.
He wished to have more children, including a daughter, but he said that will ‘never’ happen now and he does not see himself being in a relationship again.
Following the appeal decision, Mr Malkinson’s mother was ‘over the moon that it’s finally been put to rest’.
Now Mr Malkinson is moving out of Britain permanently and moving to the Netherlands and could be in line for up to £1million for his wrongful conviction.
Mr Malkinson previously applied twice for his case to be reviewed by the CCRC but was turned down, eventually being released from prison in December 2020.
After his release, advancements in scientific techniques allowed his legal team, supported by legal charity Appeal, to provide new DNA analysis that cast doubt on his conviction to the CCRC.
The body then commissioned its own testing which found that DNA from the victim’s clothing matched another man on the national police database.
GMP confirmed in January that a man had been arrested and released under investigation in light of the new information, but no decision has been made as to whether he will be charged.
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