PA MediaA person who served 17 years in jail for a rape he didn’t commit has acquired the primary a part of a compensation cost, his lawyer has mentioned.
Andrew Malkinson had his conviction quashed in 2023 after years protesting his innocence, however has waited since then for compensation.
The 59-year-old, who was a safety guard working in Salford earlier than his arrest, was wrongly convicted in 2004 and possibilities to free him had been repeatedly missed, resulting in one of many worst miscarriages of justice in UK authorized historical past.
Mr Malkinson mentioned he “would hesitate to say that I’m grateful… however I’m relieved the Ministry of Justice has lastly performed the precise factor to elevate me out of limbo with this interim cost.”
He mentioned his “arms had been shaking” after his lawyer broke the information to him.
“I needed to go for a stroll to attempt to soak up that I’ve lastly reached this milestone,” he mentioned.
He added extra wanted to be performed to make the compensation scheme “match for goal”.
“Nobody ought to have to attend this lengthy to have the ability to begin to rebuild their life, and too many harmless individuals are being denied compensation altogether.”
‘He’s solely simply beginning to rebuild his life’
Mr Malkinson mentioned the £1m cap on compensation payouts for individuals who have been in jail for greater than 10 years must be lifted.
“The ridiculous 2008 compensation cap which hasn’t elevated with inflation must be lifted, and other people ought to routinely be accepted onto the scheme if their convictions are quashed.”
Toby Wilton from Mr Malkinson’s authorized group mentioned: “Andy Malkinson’s life was shattered when he was despatched to jail for greater than 17 years for against the law he didn’t commit. He’s solely now beginning to rebuild it.
“The federal government ought to elevate the present cap on compensation, and finish the twisted quirk that while awards below different compensation schemes are excluded from evaluation for advantages, Andy now faces the chance of dropping his social housing flat simply because he has been awarded this cash.”
It was beforehand reported that Mr Malkinson was struggling to survive on benefits and needed to flip to meals banks.
