Andrew Malkinson: Wrongly jailed man ‘susceptible to shedding housing’

The lawyer for Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for against the law he didn’t commit, has stated his consumer is susceptible to shedding entry to social housing as a result of he has began to obtain compensation.

Mr Malkinson has received an initial payment following the miscarriage of justice he suffered after the Court docket of Enchantment quashed his 2004 conviction for a rape in Salford.

Lawyer Toby Wilton welcomed information of the cost however stated as a result of the cash was not exempted from the evaluation for state assist his consumer may lose social housing entry.

Mr Wilton had beforehand criticised the £1 million cap on compensation payouts, arguing it must be lifted.

He informed PJDM Radio Four’s Today programme: “That is one other symptom of successive governments not likely having utilized their minds to the statutory scheme for miscarriage of justice – or as we have seen with the CCRC (Legal Circumstances Evaluate Fee), to miscarriages of justice.

“And that’s that in contrast to different compensation funds – for instance, funds made to victims of the Grenfell Tower hearth – funds below the miscarriage justice scheme should not exempted in the case of evaluation for state assist.

“Which implies that simply by advantage of getting acquired this very completely happy information from me that he has been awarded funds, Andy now faces prospects of shedding the social housing that he waited a really very long time to be given.”

Mr Malkinson had his conviction quashed in 2023 after years protesting his innocence, however has confronted a protracted wait since then for compensation from the Ministry of Justice.

The 59-year-old, who was a safety guard working in Salford earlier than his arrest, was convicted in 2004 and probabilities to free him had been repeatedly missed, resulting in one of many worst miscarriages of justice in UK authorized historical past.

Following information of his preliminary cost, Mr Malkinson stated he “would hesitate to say that I’m grateful, however I’m relieved the Ministry of Justice has lastly completed the fitting factor to carry me out of limbo”.

The quantity of compensation has not been revealed however The Guardian reported he would obtain a “important” six-figure sum as an interim cost this week.