“No justice” in rapist’s Lottery win, says Blunkett
The Home Secretary has said that he will move to ensure that prisoners can not benefit from Lottery wins whilst in prison.
His comments come in response to the news that a man convicted of attempted rape has won £7 million on the Lottery after having bought a ticket when on day release.
The Prison Service have stated that whilst prisoners are bared from playing the pools or premium bonds whilst in prison, prisoners on day release are entitled to buy Lottery tickets.
The news has caused storms of outrage in the popular press and this morning David Blunkett, writing in The Sun, said that there is legislation in front of Parliament that could be used to gain compensation for victims in such an incident.
The Proceeds of Crime Act gave the police and courts the power to seize assets of convicted criminals they believed to have been acquired through criminal activities. But there is currently no provision to allow the courts to seize money if financial circumstances change whilst an individual is in prison.
Though victims can sue through the civil courts for damages after a conviction there is normally a time limit of around six years, and this man’s crimes were over 20 years ago.
Mr Blunkett wrote: “There’s no justice in a convicted rapist winning the Lottery while his victims still suffer from what he did to them.
“We can’t stop a prisoner or their family from buying a ticket but we can look closely at making sure they don’t benefit from a single penny while in prison.”
He denied that his comments were a knee jerk reaction to this incident, stating that this exact scenario was included in a consultation paper in the New Year, and legislation is currently before Parliament to ensure such windfalls can be accessed.
Under the proposals every convicted criminal will pay in to the Victims’ Fund- with support for rape victims “one its top priorities.”
“I will be talking to the Lottery Commission and to Cabinet colleagues to see if we can find a way to stop this happening again.
“And I want to find out if a substantial slice of winnings like these can go into the Victims’ Fund.
“The task now is to make sure that crime truly doesn’t pay,” he concluded.
