Anger over £1m paid to jailbirds for lost property
Gliding gull avoids mid-bear collision
TAXPAYERS have forked out nearly £1million in four years to compensate prisoners for their lost or damaged property, official figures reveal.
The items include a £50 e-cigarette, a £35 pair of trainers and hair clippers worth £16. Also on the list was a £19.99 rechargeable toothbrush and a £20 dressing gown.
In all, the Ministry of Justice paid out £855,541 to prisoners between 2013 and 2017.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “These numbers paint a terrible picture and taxpayers will be disappointed.”
Earlier this year, Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen revealed that more than a quarter of inmates’ complaints involved lost or stolen property.
Prisoners can keep some property in their cells, while the rest is stored at their jail or in a central depot.
Mr Newcomen’s report urged the Prison Service to “get a grip on the way prisoners’ property is managed” and added that “scarce resources” were being used for compensation.
The figures, obtained under a Freedom of Information request, show sixfigure sums were awarded in the four financial years between 2013 and 2017. Compensation payments were made to 10,357 inmates at jails in England and Wales over the period.
The Ministry of Justice said the vast majority of compensation demands from prisoners were turned down. A spokesman said: “We robustly defend all claims and are successful in twothirds of cases brought by prisoners.”
One of the most notorious compensation payouts was to Kevan Thakrar, 30, of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, who murdered three men with a submachine gun during a drug deal.
He was awarded £1,000 in 2016 after a judge ruled a guard squirted shampoo on his CDs during a jail transfer.
A year earlier, he was paid £800 for loss or damage to personal items including nose-hair clippers.
But some get more than they bargain for. In 2013, a burglar demanded £6,000 after banging his head while “play- fighting” with a cellmate.
He insisted he had slipped on water at HMP Manchester. His claim was dismissed and he was jailed for an extra 15 months for perverting the course of justice. suddenly veered off – and avoided a collision by inches.
Takayoshi Noda snapped the moment when the pair came face to face on Barter Island, Alaska.
The photographer said: “The