Prisoners claim compo for falling out of bed
Inmates at one Welsh prison alone have snaffled nearly £200,000 in compensation for problems as trivial as falling out of bed.
According to Wales Online, criminals at Cardiff Prison have made 70 payouts in the last two years, several for injuries sustained when falling from bunks. Amounts ranged from just £5.50 to £8,500.
Two-thirds of the claims were for injuries, with five being made for lost property.
Of course, it's clearly cheaper for the Ministry of Justice to pay out a sum like £5.50 than to mount a legal challenge. However, a spokesperson for the Prison Officers' Association said the organisation was disappointed that so many cases were settled without a fight.
"Many claims have involved prisoners alleging injury from falling out of a bunk bed in a cell designed for one prisoner that actually houses two," he said.
"All too regularly our employer pays a prisoner compensation without a legal challenge being mounted, all in the name of cost-cutting. If our employer listened to this unions' concerns about overcrowding, then these expense-heavy claims could be avoided."
And Cardiff is by no means the only prison where prisoners are making claims. Just this week, triple murderer Kevan Thakrar won £1,000 compensation after claiming that his stereo was broken, CDs were damaged and four books lost when he was moved from one prison to another in 2013.
And that wasn't even his first claim: back in 2014, he was awarded more than £800 after the prison authorities lost his nose hair clippers, toiletries and personal photos.
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Meanwhile, one of fusilier Lee Rigby's killers, Michael Adebolajo, is currently suing the prison service for £20,000 after his teeth were knocked out by prison staff trying to restrain him.
And Graham Coutts, who murdered a special needs teacher Jane Longhurstwith in 2003, is seeking up to £40,000 compensation after being forced to change into a prison uniform before being taken to hospital.
As a result, Conservative MP David Davies has written to justice minister Michael Gove, calling for prisoner compensation payments to go to their victims instead.
"Rather than paying money directly to the recipient, the money is paid to an independent party who will hand it over once the recipient has fulfilled their side of the bargain," he wrote.
"In this case, the prisoner would be obliged to contact all of the victims of the offence for which they have been convicted and invite them to countersue for the distress and any material loss they suffered, along with their legal costs."
