Miscarriage of justice victim launches fundraiser to fight ‘unjust’ bed and board payments

Martin Shipton

A Welshman who spent 11 years in jail for a murder he didn’t commit has launched a crowdfunding appeal with another miscarriage of justice victim so they can challenge the UK Labour government’s decision that they should make “bed and board” payments towards the cost of their imprisonment.

Michael O’Brien and two other men were wrongly convicted of killing Cardiff newsagent Phillip Saunders in 1987. They became known as the Cardiff Newsagent Three and had their convictions quashed following a lengthy public and media campaign that drew attention to police misconduct in the handling of the case.

After his vindication and release, Mr O’Brien was awarded £650,000 in compensation for the time he spent in prison. But Lord Brennan, an independent assessor, decided that £37,000 should be deducted from the amount he received to account for the living costs like rent and food he would have had to pay for if he hadn’t been jailed.

Costs

Mr O’Brien challenged the decision in the High Court and his legal team succeeded in overturning the decision. But the UK Government won in the Court of Appeal and Mr O’Brien withdrew his application for the case to go to the House of Lords – at the time the highest court in the UK – after being told that he was likely to be ordered to pay costs of around £140,000 if he lost again.

Having abandoned his legal battle, Mr O’Brien resigned himself to having lost the “bed and board” money permanently. But the issue came back into the news in July 2023 when the rape conviction of Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail, was quashed after forensic tests proved that another man was the perpetrator.

When the issue of compensating Mr Malkinson for his wrongful imprisonment was raised, it was suggested that he would have a “bed and board” payment deducted.

Review

However, the then Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was said to hold the view that those who had been wrongly convicted should not have to pay living expenses for the time they spent in jail, on the basis that the practice is unfair. It was decided that Mr Malkinson would not have a sum for “bed and board” deducted from his compensation. A review was launched into whether other wrongly convicted ex-prisoners should get refunds on their “bed and board” payments.

However, since Labour returned to power at Westminster, Ministers including Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood have decided to save money by not reimbursing the likes of Mr O’Brien.

An application for legal aid to mount a judicial review of the government’s decision has been turned down, but Mr O’Brien has not given up. He has joined forces with Paul Blackburn, who spent 25 years in jail for a crime he did not commit yet was charged £100,000 for “bed and board”.

Mr Blackburn was convicted as a teenager in 1978 for the attempted murder and sexual assault of a young boy in Warrington, Cheshire. He was arrested shortly after turning 15. The only notable evidence against him was a confession he signed after four hours of questioning by two senior officers, with no parent or lawyer present.

Police jargon

The appeal court, which quashed the conviction in 2005, two years after Blackburn was released on licence, said the police claim he wrote the confession unaided “can now be seen to have been untrue” after linguistic analysis showed it was littered with police jargon almost certainly unknown to a poorly-educated teenager. The ruling said this cast doubt on other police claims.

The lead appeal court judge, Sir David Keene, later called it “a shocking case”. Now retired and thus able to speak publicly for the first time, he told the Guardian that the evidence about Mr Blackburn’s confession was “manifestly absurd” and that the police should apologise. Cheshire Police refused to do so.

Although Hickman and Rose, the solicitors who represent Mr O’Brien and Mr Blackburn, will do so on a “no win, no fee” basis, they could find themselves facing massive costs if the court rules against them. For that reason they are raising funds.

In an introduction to the crowdfunding appeal, Mr O’Brien states: “This is not just about us; it’s about every individual who has been wrongfully convicted and then charged for their stay in prison – a place they should never have been in the first place. It is estimated by the Innocence Project that hundreds could be affected by this policy. This practice adds insult to injury for victims of wrongful convictions and must be addressed immediately. We have now been refused legal aid to challenge this unjust decision and aim to raise the funds to cover our legal costs. They did not charge guilty people for being rightly imprisoned: only innocent miscarriages of justice victims.”

Anyone wishing to donate can do so via this link