Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a crime he did not commit, says the Ministry of Justice has left him “to rot” after telling him he is likely to have to wait months before learning if he is even eligible for compensation.
Malkinson was freed last year after being treated by the state as a sex offender after he was wrongly convicted of a 2003 rape in Greater Manchester.
His conviction was quashed by the court of appeal 16 months ago and since his release he has been struggling on universal credit and forced to turn to food banks.
Malkinson, 58, said new measures that were required in order to qualify for out-of-work benefits, such as uploading photographs of himself at his home address, had left him feeling he was “having to prove I’m not lying all over again”.
In an interview with the Guardian, he said: “Almost every day I’m having to jump through some hoops for the authorities. I’m really struggling here. It really feels unjust on top of what they’ve done, because they said all the platitudes: ‘It’s appalling’, ‘poor Mr Malkinson’, blah blah blah. OK, it’s easy to say that … but you don’t mean it, because you do nothing, you just leave me to rot.”
Malkinson applied to the official compensation scheme for miscarriages of justice in September. Last week he received a letter advising him that the average wait for a decision on acceptance on to it was 31 weeks, which would take him until April next year. There would then be a further wait to see if any interim money could be provided before any eventual payout sum was decided on.
“I’m asking them to have some humanity,” he said, adding that ministers “can do something with the stroke of a pen” to expedite a decision on his eligibility.
He said he had so little food in the flat two weeks ago that he was forced to use a food bank again and was left “exhausted and very angry” by the situation.
Speaking from his housing association flat in Bridport, Dorset, Malkinson said he felt triggered by the bureaucratic hurdles put in his way to receive £346 a month in benefits after housing. “Everything comes out of that pittance they’re making me beg for,” he said. “I’m jumping through loads of hoops like a performing monkey, like I was having to do in prison. It’s very undignified.”
To continue to receive benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions he was told to upload photographs of himself holding up a sheet of paper with the date on it – “like a mugshot” – by a plug socket in his flat and outside his front door.
“I’m simply not free,” he said. “I’m having to beg and struggle every day to feed myself and pay bills and it really is the limit. It’s affecting my mental health, which is a complex suite of problems – I find it hard to concentrate, I’m sure I’ve got PTSD and other things I’m probably not aware of.”
Malkinson said he was still paying back £5 a month of his universal credit for what was considered an overpayment because he was out of the country for more than 28 days fulfilling his “long-held dream” of travel.
He was recently given a budget airline flight and a rented house for a couple of weeks in Spain by well-wishers but is worried the trip will mean his benefits get stopped again. He is planning to go there this week and hopes a medical letter saying it is necessary for his mental health will help, but is still worried.
“They’re not cutting me any slack,” he said. “I feel like I’m still under suspicion, and I’m being treated like someone that’s begging off the state. Hang on, the state stole an enormity from me, I think it should be treating me just a little bit better than it is doing right now.
“They know very well I’m destitute and they know very well I can’t do anything without any money. So it’s stealth oppression, that’s all I can think of, a kind of continuum of the oppression they haven’t stopped putting me under.”
Stefano Ruis, one of the solicitors working on his civil claim, said: “When we asked the Ministry of Justice for an update on whether the application Mr Malkinson made to the statutory compensation scheme in September had been accepted, we were told the average time between receipt of an application and an outcome was 31 weeks.
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“Quite understandably, Mr Malkinson does not consider this reasonable. It would seem straightforward in this case for the secretary of state to make an immediate decision, whereupon an interim compensation payment can be considered.”
Malkinson was not able to apply to the scheme until September as he had to confirm that any interim payment would not impact on his ability to qualify for legal aid to sue the police. He pushed through a change in the law: from next week, any interim compensation payments for miscarriages of justice will not affect a person’s eligibility for legal aid to sue the police or other public bodies connected to the conviction.
“That means a very great deal to have the law changed for the better,” he said.
It is not the first time Malkinson has changed the law. After he spoke out about prison board and lodging costs being deducted from compensation to the wrongly convicted, the policy was abruptly brought to an end. “I’m glad we’re rolling back these oppressive laws and I hope we can do more,” he said.
Next he plans to challenge the £1m cap on compensation for miscarriages of justice under the official scheme. “By the measure of someone who’s gone through what I’ve gone through and only recently been released, a million is derisory,” he said.
Emily Bolton, Malkinson’s criminal appeal solicitor, said: “Andy’s conviction was overturned on the basis of compelling DNA evidence, and the very authorities responsible for his wrongful imprisonment have now accepted his innocence. Given this, we cannot understand why it could take more than seven months for Andy to be accepted on to the miscarriages of justice compensation scheme.
“Even after acceptance on to the scheme, Andy will face further waiting as he seeks interim and final compensation payments … While waiting for the compensation he needs to rebuild his life, Andy is being forced to jump through hoop after hoop to get a monthly universal credit payment which barely covers his rent, utilities and food. We sincerely hope the Ministry of Justice will move with the greatest possible urgency.”
An MoJ spokesperson said: “We have been clear that those who have suffered devastating miscarriages of justice like Andrew Malkinson should not have to use compensation to bring legal action against those responsible. That’s why this government fast-tracked changes which will mean more people can access legal aid even if they have received compensation.
“We are working to make a decision on Mr Malkinson’s application for compensation as quickly as possible.”