Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, has criticised a government rule that allows up to £10,000 in legal costs to be deducted from his compensation, calling it 'vindictive' and 'penny pinching'.
Mr Malkinson was wrongly convicted in 2004 of raping a woman in Little Hulton, Greater Manchester, in 2003. His conviction was quashed in 2023 after the real perpetrator, Paul Quinn, was identified. Quinn was found guilty of the attack in April 2024 and is due to be sentenced on June 5.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Malkinson said: 'They insisted on structuring it such that I need experts to evaluate the damage done to me, and so now they are going to deduct my expenses for the experts, which could be up to £10,000 under legal fees from my compensation, so I have to pay for my own damage assessment and legal fees.'
He added: 'It doesn't make any sense at all to do that, except to say obviously they're trying to claw back as much as possible. They're penny-pinching... It's really wrong, it feels vindictive. Why doesn't the state, the perpetrator of the injustice, pay the costs for the experts and legal fees because they caused the damage, not me?'
The Ministry of Justice responded: 'We know the grave impact miscarriages of justice have and are committed to supporting individuals in rebuilding their lives. The miscarriage of justice compensation scheme is designed to help individuals rebuild their lives and last year we increased the maximum compensation payable by 30 percent to £1.3 million. The Law Commission is currently consulting on the law relating to criminal appeals, including compensation for miscarriages of justice, and we will carefully consider their findings.'
Downing Street also pointed to the ongoing consultation, with a spokesman for Sir Keir Starmer saying: 'Andrew Malkinson suffered a terrible miscarriage of justice... we understand how grave the impact cases like this have on those involved, and we're committed to supporting individuals in rebuilding their lives.'
