Charging bed and board for being innocent.

We aim to raise £100,000 so we can seek to cover some of the risk of challenging the government in court for charging miscarriage of justice victims for their bed and board.

Help protect us from the costs risk to us of bringing a court case against the Secretary of State for Justice (‘Justice Secretary’) with the aim of requiring the Justice Secretary to pay back money deducted from our compensation and that of other past victims of the worst miscarriages of justice to cover the costs of our ‘bed and board’. Following a decision by a previous justice secretary in August 2023, no future miscarriage of justice victims will face those ‘Saved Living Expenses’ (SLE) deductions and we simply want past victims to be treated the same, with dignity and fairness.

Who are we?

We are Michael O’Brien and Paul Blackburn, both victims of serious miscarriages of justice who qualified for statutory compensation, but which was reduced by the (now abolished) ‘bed and board’ (or SLE) deductions.

Michael O’Brien says: In 1987, myself along with Darren Hall and Ellis Sherwood were known as The Cardiff Newsagent Three, and were wrongfully imprisoned for a crime we did not commit. After nearly 12 years in prison, we were able to prove our innocence in 1999. Although we received compensation for this grave miscarriage of justice, £37,500 was deducted from each of our awards to cover the cost of our 'bed and board' during our unjust imprisonment.

Paul Blackburn says: In 1978, when I was just 15 years’ old, I was wrongly convicted of attempted murder and attempted buggery of a 9-year-old boy in a stranger attack. I was convicted principally on the basis of coerced confession evidence about which the Court of Appeal later found the police to have lied. I served over 24 years in prison before being released in March 2003 and my conviction was quashed in May 2005. I was eventually awarded compensation in April 2011, but SLE was deducted from my loss of earnings of between 20% to 25%, which was tens of thousands of pounds.

This is not just about the two of us; it's about every individual who has been wrongfully convicted and then charged for their stay in prison - a place they should never have been in. This practice adds insult to injury for victims of wrongful convictions and must be addressed immediately. They do not charge guilty people for being imprisoned; only innocent victims of miscarriages of justice face this penalty.

In the wake of Andy Malkinson's conviction being quashed in 2023, Alex Chalk KC MP (then Justice Secretary), stated in August 2023 that such charges would be stopped. Although he also said he was considering reimbursing those who were already subjected to this deduction, he never made a final decision, so we were shocked when the current Justice Secretary refused to do so in August 2024.

Our petition has 57,000 signatures on Change.org and we urge you to sign it: Petition update · MOJ REFUSE TO REFUND BED AND BOARD CHARGE FOR THE WRONGLY ACCUSED · Change.org · Change.org

Summary

We are pursuing a claim for Judicial Review against the Justice Secretary for refusing to reimburse ‘bed and board’ deductions from compensation paid to us and other past victims of miscarriage of justices. We are waiting to find out if the Court will allow our claim to proceed – known as ‘the permission stage’.

Call to action

We are raising funds to protect us from having to personally pay the Justice Secretary’s legal costs of defending this Judicial Review, including the permission stage, aimed at achieving fairness and dignity for past victims of miscarriages of justice, so they get the same treatment as future victims of miscarriages of justice, without facing the insult and indignity of having their compensation reduced because of SLE deductions.

Your kind donations will support our critical work to ensure fairness to past victims of miscarriages of justice. All donations will be administered by our legal team: Hickman and Rose solicitors, together with Ed Fitzgerald KC and Pippa Woodrow of Doughty Street Chambers.

What is the next step in the case?

We have issued the claim and are waiting to find out if the court will grant us permission to pursue our challenge to a full hearing.

How much are we raising and why?

Our fundraising target is currently £100,000, which we think will protect us against the risk of paying legal costs to the opponent if we lose (i.e. an adverse costs order). If we win the case and no costs are imposed against us, or there is money left over (that is, if the adverse costs payable are less than the money raised by us), then your donation will be returned to CrowdJustice who will donate all returned money to the Access to Justice Foundation or another legal cause on the platform. If we get permission to pursue the challenge, we can apply for a ‘costs capping order’ to try and ensure that these costs don’t exceed any money that we can raise. If we are unable to raise sufficient funds to meet a costs capping order and neither of us can secure public funding, it is likely that we will both be forced to discontinue the claim.

We hope you will help in any way you can by donating and signing our petition.

Yours in struggle Michael O'Brien and Paul Blackburn: no justice no peace.