Across England, compensation totalling £750,000 was paid to 197 prisoners forced to stop taking drugs, including the 20 at jails in Merseyside and North Cheshire. Each received about £3,800.
Junkie prisoners forced into cold turkey get £57k compensation
Liverpool Daily Post
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/04/19/junkie-prisoners-forced-into-cold-turkey-get-57k-compensation-64375-20787464/
DRUG-addicted prisoners forced to go “cold turkey” at Liverpool’s jails were awarded £57,000 in a fresh compensation controversy, the Daily Post can reveal.
Fifteen inmates won pay-outs following a test case that found they were eligible if they did not consent to having their drugs supply cut off.
A further £11,421 was awarded to three prisoners at Styal Prison, in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and two inmates at Risley, in Warrington, won £7,614.
The payouts – which were condemned by the Conservatives – follow last year’s revelation that a suicidal Liverpool prisoner received a £2.8m out-of-court settlement.
The case, following a failed suicide attempt which left the prisoner requiring long-term medical care, also ran up a bill of more than £1m in legal costs.
Now pressure has forced the Ministry of Justice to reveal more categories under which prisoners are compensated, including opiate dependent prisoner litigation (ODPL).
In November 2006, a High Court judge approved damages where heroin and other opiates were withdrawn, after ruling it amounted to an assault and breach of human rights.
Many of the prisoners were receiving methadone treatment before they entered prison, but were forced to undergo “short, sharp detoxification” on the inside.
Across England, compensation totalling £750,000 was paid to 197 prisoners forced to stop taking drugs, including the 20 at jails in Merseyside and North Cheshire. Each received about £3,800.
Nick Herbert, the Conservative justice spokesman, said: “Prisoners are receiving thousands of pounds in compensation while the victims of crime frequently end up with nothing.”
And Norman Brennan, of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: “This case loses sight of the fact that taking drugs is illegal. These prisoners took drugs of their own accord.”
But the government insisted it agreed reluctantly to pay up, to minimise costs to the public.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Each compensation claim received by the Prison Service is treated on its individual merits.
“Legal advice is sought and, on the basis of that advice, a decision is made on whether or not the claim should be defended.”
Drugs charities pointed out that treatment in jails suffered drastic cuts in the wake of the budget crisis that swept the NHS.
Total compensation paid out to prisoners fell sharply to £2.1m in the year to March 2007, down from £4.05m in the previous financial year
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