Compensation Claims Are Only For The Innocent.

The Home Office announced last week that innocence and not guilty are not one and

the same and this can affect the amount of compensation given to those who have been falsely imprisoned.

It has been revealed that the Ministry of Justice will not pay compensation to a man who was wrongly convicted and spent six years in jail for murder. This decision was based on the fact that he was not clearly innocent.

This has been highlighted in the case of the former school teacher, Sion Jenkins, whose claim for 500,000 was refused by the government. Jenkins had been jailed for the murder of his foster daughter, but due to a quashed conviction and two retrials with hung juries, Jenkins was released.

Officials have said that the Court of Appeal have very clear guidelines as to when compensation is due. These guidelines cover situations such as the introduction of new evidence which later proves innocence and not instances where the prosecution simple has a weak case.

Paying compensation for miscarriages of justice has always been highly controversial. For example, last year, appeal court judges ruled in favour of Stephen Miller who had spent four years in prison based on a wrongful conviction. But the award was for only 55,000 which was described as irrationally low by campaigners. An independent assessor, Lord Daniel Brennan QC agreed with this remark and recommended an increased award for Miller.

Campaigners have always found the compensation claim guidelines to be used unfairly, and often argue that decisions such as those made above, can undermine judges and juries.

Harry Fletcher, of the National Association of Probation Officers, said: "It seems to me that the absolute minimum is paid to people and as many deductions as possible are made, quite apart from the time people have to wait. When someone is cleared of a crime, they just walk out through the court doors, they don't qualify for probation support or assistance. It's not just the finances, there's no assessment of their needs and it is extraordinarily difficult for people to adapt.

"The Home Office clearly thinks that Jenkins was freed on a technicality, which doesn't mean he's innocent, but that's not for them to decide. It's fairly shameful for them to think they overrule a court."

by: Antonia Torr

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