A man who was wrongfully convicted of murder has said he is owed £37,000 after it was deducted from his compensation.
Michael O’Brien was jailed when he was 19, along with two others who became known as the Cardiff Newsagent Three, for the 1987 murder of Phillip Saunders.
The conviction was quashed on 17 December 1999 after new evidence was presented to the Court of Appeal.
The £37,000 was deducted from the compensation package for Mr O’Brien, now 57, for board during his 11 years in prison.
The previous Justice Secretary Alex Chalk announced last year the UK government would reimburse anyone wrongfully convicted who had been charged for saved living costs.
At the time, Mr Chalk said that the policy change would mean people “do not face paying twice for crimes they did not commit”.
Mr O’Brien, from Aberdare in Rhondda Cynon Taf, says the government had previously pledged to consider applying the new guidance retrospectively.
However, the Ministry of Justice says changes in government policy are never applied retrospectively.
Mr O’Brien told Sky News the argument the government had given campaigners – that it would cost too much to cover administrative costs – was “hypocrisy”.
“They kept me in prison for 12 years, unjustly, and they were quite prepared to pay that,” he said.
“How can they justify charging an innocent man?”
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‘Prison will never leave me’
Mr O’Brien was released from prison aged 32 and he said his time there was very challenging.
“My daughter died of a cot death, my father died while I was in prison, I lost my marriage, I lost everything. I had nothing,” he added.
“And it’s been very difficult. I suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I’m still on medication.
“I’m still seeing a psychiatrist after 25 years of being released because I’m that traumatised by what happened.
“And I may have left prison, but prison will never leave me.”
The murder of Mr Saunders remains unsolved.
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A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Financial awards made after 6 August 2023 as part of the miscarriage of justice scheme will not have saved living expenses deducted.
“However, in line with the standard approach to changes in government policy, the change announced last year does not apply retrospectively.”
