Prisoners receive £10m in compensation
By politics.co.uk staff
Claims made by inmates who suffered harm in the prisoner system over the last five years have cost the taxpayer over £10 million.
Medical negligence, 'false imprisonment' and administrative delays all contributed to the £10,125,845 bill for the last five full financial years, it has emerged.
Figures obtained by the Press Association news agency showed that in the last year two payments were over £100,000. A 2005/06 payout, the highest of the period, totalled £2.8 million.
"The vast majority of prisoners' compensation claims are relatively trivial, do not merit financial redress, and are dismissed at an early stage," a Ministry of Justice spokesman said.
"All claims are robustly defended, and would only be settled on the basis of strong legal advice, and in order to seek the best value for the taxpayer."
Judicial guidelines and analysis of the available evidence would then be used to determine the appropriate level of compensation, the spokesman explained.
