British man wrongly imprisoned for 17 years may have to pay prison board and lodging

A British man who spent 17 years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit may have to pay for prison board and lodging if he receives compensation for being wrongfully convicted, according to local media reports.
Andrew Malkinson, was sentenced in prison in 2004 after being found guilty of a brutal attack on a 33-year-old woman in Greater Manchester, England in 2003.
But the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction on Wednesday after DNA evidence emerged linking another suspect to the attack.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The 57-year-old who always maintained he was innocent following his conviction spoke out against the possibility of having to potentially fork-out for prison board and lodging costs.
“The result is that even if you fight tooth and nail and gain compensation you then have to pay the prison service a large chunk of that for so-called ‘board and lodgings,’ which is so abhorrent to me. I am sickened by it,” he told the BBC.
Malkinson cannot claim compensation yet as he has not received a declaration of innocence from the Court of Appeal, Sky News reported on Thursday.
The rules pertaining to paying for prison service date back to a decision made in 2007 by the House of Lords, when it was the UK’s highest court, according to the BBC.

With The Associated Press
Read more:

Seven sentenced to life imprisonment in Greece for stabbing football fan