That’s criminal!

Inmates get £1m for lost and damaged property – from £150 for a stereo to 57p for a magazine

PRISON bosses have been accused of wasting taxpayers’ money after it emerged inmates have received more than £1million for lost or damaged belongings.

A total of £1.075million compensation has been paid over the last five years, for 13,023 claims including missing clothing, trainers and DVD players.

The lowest payout was just 57p for a ‘lost or damaged TV magazine’. Compensation paid in 2017-18 includes £10 for damage to tracksuit bottoms at Risley prison in Cheshtheir ire, £3 for a T-shirt in High Down, Surrey, and £150 for a stereo at Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire.

An inmate in Rochester, Kent, was repaid £5.25 after items bought at the prison shop were lost. A prisoner in Elmley, Kent was also reimbursed for £20.80 after his tobacco went missing.

The £68.99 cost of a lost DVD player was also paid to an inmate at Ranby, Nottinghamshire. The cases involve ‘authorised belongings’ which prisoners can hold in cell. Excess items can be stored locally at the jail or at a central depot.

The figures cover state-run prisons in England and Wales and were obtained by the Press Association under the Freedom of Information Act. The number and value of payments went up in the last financial year despite a watchdog highlighting the problem. Last year, then Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen called on jail bosses to ‘get a grip’ on the way property is managed.

The issue has also been flagged up by independent monitoring boards at several prisons, with one recent report saying the disappearance of property on transfer between establishments seems to be an ‘intractable’ problem.

Conservative MP Bob Neill, chairman of the Commons justice committee, said: ‘This issue has been raised at a number of our recent prison visits, so these figures do not come as a surprise.

‘Property is a regular source of complaint to both the Prison and Probation Ombudsman and independent monitoring boards.

‘Until prisons properly follow the clear guidance from the ombudsman, scarce resources, not to mention taxpayers’ money, will continue to be

‘Manipulate the system’

wasted. Prisons need to sort it out to ensure that they have an adequate system for property recording.’

A spokesman for the Prison Officers’ Association said: ‘Prisoners often manipulate the system to make claims and the Prison Service needs to have a more robust attitude to compensation.

‘We believe these claims are frivolous, unjustified and cost the taxpayer lots of money.’

An HM Prison Service spokesman said work was underway to ‘ prevent the causes of claims’ and bring down the bill in future years.

She said: ‘We successfully defend two thirds of all compensation cases brought against us by prisoners.’