UK: Man Wrongfully Imprisoned for Three Years to Receive £6,800 Government Bill for “Board and Lodging”
May 30th, 2007I tried to write commentary for this story several times, but each version resulted in statements that could get me in trouble.
Via: BBC:
A 37-year-old man jailed for a crime he did not commit is being charged almost £7,000 for his time in prison.
Warren Blackwell from Woodford Halse, Northamptonshire, has been told the sum will be deducted from compensation to cover savings on rent and food.
He spent three years in jail convicted of sexually assaulting a woman with a history of false claims against men.
The Ministry of Justice said deductions were normal procedure and should not be called “bed and breakfast” costs.
An appeal hearing said Mr Warren’s conviction was unsafe because the woman had made similar accusations in the past about other men.
Mr Warren was told he would receive compensation minus £6,800, which has been assessed as the amount of money he had saved from normal expenses while in jail.
He said: “I was flabbergasted when I was told. How can they justify charging innocent people when murderers live rent free?”
The victim paying the costs of false imprisonment? I’d have thought the false accuser would foot the bill.
Isn’t this scenario straight out of the movie, “Brazil,” where the accused has to pay for services from the state?
Get you in trouble? For what? Pointing out that the government, which almost certainly behaved in a criminally negligent manner, is now adding insult to injury?
In any case, the thing speaks for itself.
Wait a minute! Isn’t this that nut case woman who had even accused her own father of some nasty business? Sounds similar because, as I recall, there was also some poor schmuck, a younger guy working at a store, and this gal got him thrown into jail with a false charge. True justice would require the false accuser to pay all costs including lost wages on the part of the falsely accused…. not some twisted logic that says, “Well, you woulda spent X amount while on the outside, never mind the being in JAIL bit, so consider yourself lucky and fork it over anyways”
Oh. My. God. *sighs heavily, and shakes head*
Did any of you read the entire article?
“The purpose of the compensation is to put an individual back into the financial position they would have been in but for the miscarriage of justice, but not to a better position.”
“The amount of Mr Blackwell’s compensation is yet to be decided, although he said he thought it would be in the region of £100,000.”
What he will get is about £100000 minus £6,800. Posting half of the story really mislead the idea: this is an accountant loophole, not an Orwellian scenario.
While it is really F#&@ed up that he has to pay the bill for his jail time… I’ve got to say… I had no idea that the UK compensates the wrongfully imprisoned for their prison time. He estimates that he will get 100,000 pounds for his time. So he gets the equivalent of $197,000 USD for his time and they take back $13,000 so he gets $183,000 USD in the end. That is still a pittance for his pain and suffering, but it is a lot more than the $000,000.00 that most wrongfully imprisoned people in the USA get when (and if) they are vindicated and released. I might be wong about this and people will probaby jump all over me for this post… but I was shocked to hear that he was getting compensated at all for his jail time. I’ve heard stories of people in the US who were wrongfully jailed for 20+ years and upon release got nothing. ZERO. So this guy gets a fresh start and almost 200 grand. Could be worse. They could have handled the whole acconting thing internally and just made his compensation that much less and there wouldn’t even be much of a story. -eric
I wonder if they are going to charge David Hicks for this flight on the Gulfstream G-V private jet N90AM from Cuba to Australia after his little ‘visit’.
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/ (May 29, 2007)
May 29, 2007 — On May 22, WMR reported on the Gulfstream Aerospace G550 (Tail Number N90AM) that flew “Australian Taliban” David Hicks to Australia from incarceration in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Gulfstream’s travel itinerary over the past 7 years closely matches those of other CIA rendition aircraft.
Sightings:
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=N90AM&distinct_entry=true
Not for Sale:
http://www.planedesire.com/aircraft/desire/N90AM/details.html
Real-time tracking ‘blocked’ by owner:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N90AM
Jeff, You’re right that there is a “bright” side to all this, but he could have been blessed to live in China, got railroaded and shot in the head, then the bill for the bullet would have gone to his family. That happens all the time. Or, like some pastors just recently, where their stunned families were called up and told to pick up their cremated remains by the government… wouldn’t want any autopsies to get in the way of “justice” and all that. Never mind the executions.