An innocent man who spent 11 years and 43 days in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Michael O’Brien, is demanding £37,000 that was deducted from his compensation package for board during his time in prison. O’Brien, now 54, was wrongly convicted of the murder of businessman Phillip Saunders in Cardiff in 1987 when he was just 19 years old. Mr. Saunders, a newsagent, was found brutally beaten in his garden after finishing work. O’Brien, who was out stealing a car with others on the night of the murder, never imagined he would lose over a decade of his life behind bars when initially pulled in by South Wales Police as part of the murder inquiry.
After 11 years in prison, O’Brien’s conviction was quashed, and he received over £600,000 in compensation from the UK Government. However, £37,000 was deducted for expenses like food and accommodation during his imprisonment. This deduction was a standard practice for exonerated prisoners until a public outcry following Andrew Malkinson’s case last year, where the justice secretary announced a stop to charging exonerated prisoners for board.
Despite this change, ex-prisoners like O’Brien, who were exonerated before Malkinson, have not been reimbursed for these deductions. The Ministry of Justice explained that the change does not apply retrospectively, leaving O’Brien and others demanding full compensation for their wrongful imprisonment expenses.
O’Brien has set up a petition calling for exonerees to be awarded board money, gathering over 56,000 signatures. He expressed his frustration, stating, “They don’t charge guilty people; they only charge innocent people. I think it’s really a final insult for what they’ve done to me and the rest of the people wrongly convicted and imprisoned.”
The toll of his wrongful imprisonment extended beyond the loss of years; O’Brien revealed the profound effects including the loss of his daughter, marriage breakdown, and ongoing struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite the Ministry of Justice’s response that the awards would not be deducted for cases post-August 6, 2023, O’Brien continues to advocate for full compensation for all exonerees who suffered similar injustices.
The story highlights systemic challenges faced by individuals wrongfully convicted and imprisoned, underscoring the need for ongoing advocacy and reform to ensure justice and fairness for all.