Man jailed for crime he didn't commit wants MoJ to pay back historic victims of wrongful convictions
Michael O'Brian served 11 years for the murder of newsagent Phillip Saunders in 1987, despite being innocent
Last updated 10th Aug 2023
A man who spent over 11 years in prison for a murder he did not commit says he wants to see the Ministry of Justice pay money back to historic victims of wrongful convictions.
Michael O'Brian had to pay £37,500 after he was freed from prison to cover the costs of his stay there.
He, along with Darren Hall and Ellis Sherwood, was convicted for the murder of newsagent Phillip Saunders in 1987. In 1999, the men were found to be innocent and freed.
No one has since been charged with the murder.
But after receiving compensation for their miscarriage of justice, they had to pay for the cost of their incarceration. Criminals who are convicted for crimes they did commit do not have to pay for their prison terms.
The law around this payment was recently scrapped after Andrew Malkinson was cleared of a rape conviction despite never committing the crime. He had served 17 years in prison before being found innocent in July of this year.
O'Brian celebrated this decision, but says backdated payments should now be paid back as well.
'I think it is very brave to abolish it but I think it needs to go one step further, and the ones who paid it to be reimbursed. I think that is the decent thing too.
'It's not as if I could walk out of there and say "I don't want your food, I don't want your clothes... they kept me against my will and want to charge me for it'.
The reality that those found innocent have to pay this fee, but not those who are guilty, according to O'Brian, is unfair.
'Innocent people seem to be treated worse than innocent people. It's just not fair, it's just not right.
'Who says crime pays? Well, it obviously does in this instance'.
We contacted the Ministry of Justice for comment. They told us they will not be looking to repay in the cases of historic miscarriages of justice.
O'Brian says he is now campaigning to for historic cases to have money they paid returned to them. He also says he is considering taking this challenge to the high court.
'I just hope that they do the right thing. come on, be fair now. Don't charge innocent people for things they haven't done'.
He says the Ministry of Justice should spend more of its effort finding the Philip Saunders killer instead of making the lives of those wrongly convicted for his murder harder.
'Sometimes it makes me feel really bitter, and for the families as well. They haven't had justice for 36 years'.