Man wrongly jailed for 17 years sparks compensation row as lawyer hits out

Andrew Malkinson’s lawyer has said plans to increase an “arbitrary” cap on compensation for victims of miscarriages of justice “does not go nearly far enough”.

Ministers have announced that victims of justice who are wrongly jailed for 10 years or more in England and Wales could get up to £1.3million in compensation. It is a 30% uplift from the current £1m cap, which has not been changed since 2008.

The current £500,000 maximum amount of compensation payable to those who are wrongly jailed for up to 10 years will also be increased by 30% to £650,000.

It follows calls from Malkinson, who served 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, to reform the compensation scheme. But Toby Wilton, a solicitor representing the 59-year-old, warned the 30% increase “does not come close to addressing this unfairness”.

READ MORE: Andrew Malkinson miscarriage of justice scandal review could clear man of 40-year-old murder

He said: “While this proposal is welcome, it does not go nearly far enough. The current maximum cap on compensation of £1m was introduced in 2008. Before that, compensation was not capped at all and applicants received compensation broadly in line with what they would receive in a Court of law.

“The government should return to this system, removing the arbitrary cap which unfairly penalises those who like Andrew Malkinson have suffered the longest lasting and most serious miscarriages of justice.

"A 30% increase in the cap, whilst welcome, does not come close to addressing this unfairness. The Government and Parliament should think again.”

He said the courts use RPI inflation to uprate compensation amounts, which if applied here, would mean £1m in 2008 would be closer to £2m today.

Mr Malkinson’s conviction was overturned in 2023 after an almost 20-year fight for justice for years. But he did not receive hisfirst compensation payment until earlier this year, following a year and a half of struggling to get by on benefits.

In February, Mr Malkinson described the compensation scheme as not "fit for purpose". "The ridiculous 2008 compensation cap which hasn't increased with inflation should be lifted, and people should automatically be accepted on to the scheme if their convictions are quashed," he said.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Fairness is the ideal that underpins our justice system. Where it has failed to meet that ideal, victims of devastating miscarriages of justice must be able to rebuild their lives. T

"his uplift will ensure victims are compensated for the crimes they did not commit and the years they cannot get back.”

Malkinson, 59, had his conviction squashed in 2023 by the country’s Court of Appeal after DNA evidence linked another suspect to the crime. He was working as a security guard in Salford when he was wrongly convictedin 2004 of an attack on a 33-year-old woman after she had picked him out form a police line-up.

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