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Many have been surprised to learn that practically all those leaving prison following a wrongful conviction are denied compensation.
Alex Cavendish’s article in our Winter edition of FACTion, volume 5.4, page 7, recently drew our attention to this. There have been further developments on this subject following the release of Victor Nealon who had his conviction overturned after serving 17 years in prison! It is reported he and several others are seeking legal action against the Justice Secretary over the changes in the law which prevent compensation being paid to the wrongly convicted.
Victor Nealon’s case involved the CCRC (Criminal Cases Review Commission) which is a vitally important last resort body for the wrongly convicted. They held a stakeholders’ conference at the end of 2014 attended by FACT national committee members and at which solicitor advocate and FACT advisory group member Mark Newby gave a speech which included details of the Victor Nealon case. The transcript of the speech can be read in FACTion, volume 5.4, page 10.
Useful links:
FACTion volume 5.4 www.factuk.org/resources/newsletter/faction-2015/
Another useful source of information is Alex Cavendish’s blog prisonuk.blogspot.co.uk/