need cash? go to jail

jcr · 26 Jun 2011 at 10:44

Prisoners have won more than £10 million in compensation over the last five years, figures show.

A total of £10,125,845 was handed to inmates who claimed they suffered harm inside the prison system in the last five financial years.

mlbtheshow · 26 Jun 2011 at 10:47

Nice, is this just from injuries caused by accidents or does it include beatings/meatings?

mrk · 26 Jun 2011 at 10:51

So you can literally Get Rich Quick by Robbin Banks!

Burnsy2023 · 26 Jun 2011 at 10:52

For people who want more than a sensationalist headline: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13918358

jp_bl_68 · 26 Jun 2011 at 11:23

Am I the only one who thinks that these numbers are encouraging? £1.6m in compensation shared between about 85,000 inmates is less than £20 per person. Things could be a hell of a lot worse. £1.6m is a tiny drop in the ocean.

Squid · 26 Jun 2011 at 12:05

TBH it only takes one a case of imprisoning a someone who's not guilty and then new evidence a few years later proving this.
A nice little pay out imagine.

Jay.D · 26 Jun 2011 at 12:35

jcr said:
Prisoners have won more than £10 million in compensation over the last five years, figures show.

A total of £10,125,845 was handed to inmates who claimed they suffered harm inside the prison system in the last five financial years.

Harm? Free board, living, 3 square meals, all the networking you need for your future endeavours....where's the harm in that?

Gackt · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:15

Jay.D said:
Harm? Free board, living, 3 square meals, all the networking you need for your future endeavours....where's the harm in that?

That really depends on why you're in there. I'd wager that there are quite a few people in the prison system who have either committed minor crimes, are wrongly imprisoned or who genuinely want to pay back society. Just because they're in there doesn't mean they deserve to be brutalised. And just because they're in there doesn't mean they enjoy their time inside.

"networking" Lol, okay. You have no idea.

Meridian · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:34

jp_bl_68 said:
Am I the only one who thinks that these numbers are encouraging? £1.6m in compensation shared between about 85,000 inmates is less than £20 per person. Things could be a hell of a lot worse. £1.6m is a tiny drop in the ocean.

I look at it the same way. I also note that most of these are down to Prison Service mess-ups. Stopping messing up, and the government won't need to compensate.

M

Jay.D · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:38

Gackt said:
That really depends on why you're in there. I'd wager that there are quite a few people in the prison system who have either committed minor crimes, are wrongly imprisoned or who genuinely want to pay back society. Just because they're in there doesn't mean they deserve to be brutalised. And just because they're in there doesn't mean they enjoy their time inside.

"networking" Lol, okay. You have no idea.

I was being flippant, I do have no idea of prison...and I'm certainly not implying people should be brutalised.

I do find it interesting why youd wager 'quite a few' are wrongly imprisoned or genuinely want to pay back society, where does your experience come from if you dont mind me asking?

Raymond Lin · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:38

£10million over 5 years for the all prisoners population? That's nothing.

You can achieve and exceed that figure in a single case in car accident insurance claims.

Granted, you need to be young, or clever or have/had a great job and earning potential and suffered something like brain injury or paralysed for the rest of your life...

My point being, i.e.

In a separate case, £1.14m went to former prisoner Gregg Marston, of Shoeburyness, Essex, who was left crippled when a doctor failed to send him for an urgent examination.

This has nothing to do with him being a convict. This is a basic clinical negligence claim and it was valid. Being in prison is irrelevant.

Gackt · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:41

Jay.D said:
I do find it interesting why youd wager 'quite a few' are wrongly imprisoned or genuinely want to pay back society, where does your experience come from if you dont mind me asking?

Friends, family, people I've spoken to, articles I've read over the years.

I know it's hardly peer-reviewed hard fact, at best it's anecdotal, but it makes sense to me.

This has nothing to do with him being a convict.

Him being a convict is the reason why some find it offensive, they believe that because he is a convict that he is surrendered of any rights other than to exist.

MrMoonX · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:44

Raymond Lin said:
£10million over 5 years for the all prisoners population? That's nothing.

You can achieve and exceed that figure in a single case in car accident insurance claims.

Granted, you need to be young, or clever or have/had a great job and earning potential and suffered something like brain injury or paralysed for the rest of your life...

My point being, i.e.

This has nothing to do with him being a convict. This is a basic clinical negligence claim and it was valid. Being in prison is irrelevant.

£10m nothing that equivalent to £112.00 per prisoner to spend on smack
its a joke, prison service is about appeasement of prisoners governors dont even stand up to them anymore

Raymond Lin · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:46

MrMoonX said:
£10m nothing that equivalent to £112,000 per prisoner

There are only 89 prisoners in England and Wales? :eek:

Raymond Lin · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:50

Gackt said:
Him being a convict is the reason why some find it offensive, they believe that because he is a convict that he is surrendered of any rights other than to exist.

Personal opinion is irrelevant when it comes to the law.

They are 2 different things. Get them confused then you might as well live back in the dark ages, or live in Saudi Arabia. Lets chop his hand off because that kid stole an apple from Tesco size supermarket giant.

There is no relevance from one's previous conviction to another clinical negligence. Yes, you can argue the chain of causation. If he wasn't in prison then he wouldn't be in that situation, but where do you draw the line? They say that the chain of causation is said to be made of Titanium, that is is very hard to break. But going to prison does not equal to losing you leg. It is about rehabilitation and losing freedom.

MrMoonX · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:55

Raymond Lin said:
There are only 89 prisoners in England and Wales?

typo its £122 worth of smack for every prisoner

Gackt · 26 Jun 2011 at 13:56

Raymond Lin said:
Personal opinion is irrelevant when it comes to the law.

They are 2 different things. Get them confused then you might as well live back in the dark ages, or live in Saudi Arabia. Lets chop his hand off because that kid stole an apple from Tesco size supermarket giant.

There is no relevance from one's previous conviction to another clinical negligence. Yes, you can argue the chain of causation. If he wasn't in prison then he wouldn't be in that situation, but where do you draw the line? They say that the chain of causation is said to be made of Titanium, that is is very hard to break. But going to prison does not equal to losing you leg. It is about rehabilitation and losing freedom.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Raymond Lin · 26 Jun 2011 at 14:02

MrMoonX said:
typo its £122 worth of smack for every prisoner

But it is not, if you read the BBC Article.

£1.14m went to former prisoner Gregg Marston, of Shoeburyness, Essex, who was left crippled when a doctor failed to send him for an urgent examination.

One of the largest compensation payments to date was a £2.8m settlement in 2005-06

280 offenders won payouts of less than £10,000....£1,669,312 was paid out in 2008-09

So out of the 282 prisoners.... 5,869,312.

Immediately, you £112 for each prisoners has lost almost 60% of the total lump sum.

£1,452,309 in 2007-08 and £2,142,671 in 2006-07

£3,286,521 awarded in 2009-10

Then you have the above spread over 5 years over the rest of the prison population.

It is a drop in the ocean.

Raymond Lin · 26 Jun 2011 at 14:05

The thread title should really read.

Need cash? Go to prison, get permanently crippled and get cash after going through a law suit lasting years.

Destination · 26 Jun 2011 at 14:09

The chap who got the most, obtained £2.8M, seemed to be due to him suffering serious and permanent disability following SELF-HARM in prison.
Intriguing.