General Chat

Taxpayers' bill for prison payouts


16 July 2009 14:22



Prisoners in Suffolk have received almost £100,000 in compensation from the taxpayer in the past four years, new figures have revealed.

The successful claims included two heroin-addicted prisoners who claimed their human rights were infringed when they were deprived of the heroin substitute methadone.

The prisoners, one from Blundeston prison, near Lowestoft, and the other at Highpoint prison, near Newmarket, were paid £3,807 each following an out-of-court settlement by the Government in 2006.

In total, £93,919 has been paid out in compensation to convicted criminals in Suffolk's five prisons in the past four years.

At Blundeston prison, near Lowestoft, £3,907 was paid out in 2006/7, which rose to £4,750 in 2007/8. In the last financial year, claims made from inmates at the prison totalled £10,400.

The figures, obtained following a Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Justice, show that the majority of claims followed injuries sustained by prisoners, often from slips, trips or falls.

A number of prisoners received compensation after their property was lost or damaged and there were also successful claims for medical negligence and unlawful detention.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “We successfully defend the majority of contested claims. We make payments only when we are instructed to do so by the courts or where strong legal advice suggests that a settlement will save public money.”


What about the rights of the general public who are victims of theft, or affected by the actions of these people who end up in prison?

Lizx