A victim of one of Britain's most severe miscarriages of justice is set to lose thousands of pounds in compensation because he is required to cover the costs of his own damages assessment. Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, has criticised the system as "vindictive" and "penny-pinching" after being left with a bill of up to £10,000.
Malkinson's Ordeal and Call for Reform
Mr Malkinson, now 60, told the BBC on Tuesday: "I have to pay for my own damages assessment and legal fees. I don't know what the justification is, it doesn't make any sense at all. They're trying to claw back as much as possible, they are penny-pinching." He challenged the Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy, to address the issue, stating: "I think this is something that David Lammy could fix with the stroke of a pen tomorrow easily and I'd like to ask him, does he think this is fair?"
Mr Malkinson highlighted that he was among the fortunate few to receive compensation, noting that 93% of those wrongfully imprisoned receive no compensation at all. "It's really wrong, it feels vindictive," he said. "Why doesn't the state, the perpetrator of the injustice, pay the experts and the legal fees because they did the damage, not me?"
Background of the Case
After numerous failed attempts to challenge his conviction, Mr Malkinson's case was finally quashed in 2023. The Crown Prosecution Service accepted that DNA recovered from the victim's clothing must have come from the true attacker, later identified as Paul Quinn. Quinn, from Exeter, Devon, was found guilty of two counts of rape, grievous bodily harm, and strangulation at Manchester Crown Court. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5.
Mr Malkinson expressed relief that authorities had "finally got the real perpetrator" and empathy for the victim. "I did think, 'I wonder how she's feeling now?'" he told the BBC's Shadow World: Stolen Years podcast.
The Crime and Investigation Failures
Malkinson, who always protested his innocence, was convicted after being picked out at a police identity parade. The actual perpetrator, Paul Quinn, stalked and raped a 33-year-old mother of two after dragging her down an embankment near the M61 motorway in Little Hulton, Greater Manchester. He choked her and knocked her unconscious.
Quinn is now being investigated as a potential suspect in other serious sexual assaults, including three rapes that occurred while he was at large. Greater Manchester Police faces questions about why Quinn was not investigated earlier, despite being a convicted sex offender living near the scene of the attack. Instead, detectives focused on Mr Malkinson, who was jailed in 2004, released in 2020, and only cleared in 2023.
It emerged that police and prosecutors knew as early as 2007 that an unidentified man's DNA was found on the victim but decided not to conduct further tests at the time. The Criminal Cases Review Commission, responsible for investigating potential miscarriages of justice, also declined to order additional forensic work and twice refused to refer Mr Malkinson's case to the Court of Appeal.
Ongoing Investigations
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating five former Greater Manchester Police officers on suspicion of gross misconduct, including one who is under criminal investigation. A sixth officer, still serving on the force, is being investigated on suspicion of misconduct. Additionally, a judge-led inquiry will examine why Mr Malkinson was wrongfully convicted.
