Medical negligence, personal injury claims for prisoners hit £10m

Over the past five years prisoners have won compensation claims to the tune of £10 million for factors like medical negligence and personal injury.

In the financial year to March 31st, incarcerated individuals in England and Wales won £1.6 million in damages, the Ministry of Justice has revealed.

Last year, the highest payout awarded was £125,000 for a personal injury claim.

To date, the biggest payment made is £2.8 million for an inmate who had to have long term medical care after a self-afflicted injury in jail, it has been reported.

A spokesperson for the government said that payouts were only awarded when strong legal advice suggested they should be and so that the taxpayer was given the best value.

"Just because you are a criminal doesn’t mean you are immune from being a victim," Mark Leech, editor of Converse, a prisoners' newspaper, said.

However, the Taxpayers Allowance has described the amount of money as "worrying", the Mirror reported.

Published by Hannah Carr