Latest news with #MichaelOBrien
BBC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Michael O'Brien: Wrongly jailed man loses appeal for prison stay refund
A man wrongly convicted of murder has lost a legal challenge to reclaim money he was charged for bed and board during the 11 years he spent behind O'Brien was one of three men wrongly convicted of the 1987 killing of Cardiff newsagent Phillip Saunders. After his release, Mr O'Brien had £37,500 deducted from his compensation to cover "saved living expenses" while in prison, which he has been campaigning to have a High Court judge has rejected his attempt to bring a judicial review of the deduction, which was made by the Ministry of Justice. An MoJ spokesperson said the deductions were "no longer taken" from victims of miscarriages of justice, but said the change "does not apply retrospectively". Mr O'Brien, 57, described the ruling as a "blow", saying he had hoped to have a hearing in front of judges."Unfortunately that's not the case, and at the moment we cannot take it further because if we do they'll charge us for all the costs," he said, estimating that could cost "over £100,000".He added that he was "very angry" when he heard the O'Brien brought the claim alongside Paul Blackburn, who spent 24 years in prison for a 1978 child murder in north-west England that he did not O'Brien received £692,900 in compensation in 2002, three years after his release, and Mr Blackburn was awarded £1,370,500 in Blackburn had around £100,000 deducted for saved living August 2023, Alex Chalk, then Conservative Justice Secretary, scrapped the policy of taking bed and board deductions from all future followed the high-profile case of Andrew Malkinson who was wrongfully imprisoned for 17 years for rape. Mr O'Brien and Mr Blackburn applied for further compensation following the rule changes, but last year the new Labour government said those who had previously received payouts could not claim back the deductions this week's ruling, Mr Justice Ritchie refused to allow the case to progress, although the pair have a week to found the claimants had not been discriminated against and that "the applications were dealt with and completed long before the time the policy changed". Andrew Taylor, a Cardiff-based barrister, described the ruling as "unfair", comparing the case to the fight for justice by former postmasters caught up in the much-publicised Horizon scandal. He said creating "as much publicity as possible", like those involved in the Horizon scandal, could be an effective next step for Mr O'Brien."He's been a tireless campaigner since his release, and I don't think that this is necessarily the end of the matter," he added."If you have been convicted of a murder that you didn't commit, nobody recovers," he said, adding that the decision was "another kick in the teeth" for Mr O' O'Brien said his options now were to try to get the law changed or take his campaign "onto the streets", adding that he would be lobbying also said his fight for justice had impacted his health, adding that he had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), comparing it to soldiers who had served in Iraq."That gives you an idea of the damage they've done to me and many other victims of miscarriages of justices," he added.
ABC News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Criminals who boast about offences on social media to face two more years in jail
Offenders who boast about their crimes on social media could be slapped with extra jail time under a proposal to go before Victorian Parliament today. The Labor government said the "post and boast" legislation would apply to social media users convicted of high-risk, high-harm offences, such as aggravated burglary, armed robbery and carjacking. Attorney-General Sonia Kilkenny said anyone found guilty of the new offence would face up to two years in jail, on top of any penalty for their original crime. "Today, we're introducing a bill into parliament that is going to outlaw this insidious behaviour that we've been seeing — an increasing, disturbing trend known as posting and boasting about certain crimes on social media," Ms Kilkenny said. Ms Kilkenny said the new legislation would apply to any offender, but the trend was being predominantly observed among young offenders. "Whether that's to encourage copycats or to re-traumatise their victims, it is completely unacceptable and we are going to put a stop to it," she said. The state opposition indicated it would support the bill. Shadow Attorney-General Michael O'Brien said the legislation was desperately needed. "Too many offenders are committing crimes for the purpose of getting likes on social media," Mr O'Brien said. But he said the new law was long overdue, with Victoria being the last state to introduce it. "The government's been dragging its heels for over a year and, in the meantime, more Victorians have fallen victim to crime and then the added insult of having their crimes boasted about on social media." The Law Institute of Victoria's Ben Watson agreed the law was overdue. "We have been waiting with bated breath that this law would come in and it is quite prevalent," Mr Watson told ABC Radio Melbourne. "We're seeing a lot of youth crime being posted and shared, and it's increasing the amount of youth crime that's occurring because everyone is jumping on this sort of trend." Mr Watson said jail terms did not appear to be stopping youths from committing their first crimes. But he said he believed the extra sentence would "hurt" when it was imposed, and may deter them from re-offending.
