A Cardiff man who spent over a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit has lost a legal battle to reclaim thousands of pounds the government deducted from his compensation – money taken to cover the cost of keeping him behind bars.
Michael O’Brien, one of three men wrongly convicted of the 1987 murder of Cardiff newsagent Phillip Saunders, spent 11 years in prison before being cleared. Yet, upon his release, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) deducted £37,500 from his compensation for so-called “saved living expenses” – essentially charging him rent for his own wrongful imprisonment.
Mr O’Brien, 57, has campaigned tirelessly to have the money returned, arguing that no innocent person should be made to pay for the state’s mistakes. But this week, a High Court judge refused him permission to pursue a judicial review, ruling that his case could not go forward.
The decision comes despite the government having scrapped the controversial policy last year, following public outrage over the case of Andrew Malkinson, who was wrongfully jailed for 17 years for rape. However, ministers have insisted the reform will not apply retrospectively – leaving victims like Mr O’Brien and fellow campaigner Paul Blackburn, who lost £100,000 from his own payout, with no redress.
Speaking after the ruling, Mr O’Brien called it “a blow” and said the cost of further legal action – potentially over £100,000 – made it impossible to continue in the courts. “I’m very angry,” he said. “This is money the state should never have taken. They robbed me of 11 years of my life – and then sent me the bill.”
Mr O’Brien was awarded £692,900 in 2002, three years after his release. Mr Blackburn, wrongly convicted of a 1978 child murder in north-west England, received £1.37 million in 2011 – only to see a large portion vanish under the same policy.
Cardiff barrister Andrew Taylor condemned the ruling as “unfair” and likened it to the Horizon Post Office scandal, urging Mr O’Brien to generate public pressure. “He’s been a tireless campaigner since his release. I don’t think this is the end of the matter. If you’ve been convicted of a murder you didn’t commit, you never truly recover – and this is another kick in the teeth.”
The former Conservative Justice Secretary Alex Chalk scrapped the deductions in August 2023, but the new Labour government has maintained that past cases cannot be reopened.
Mr O’Brien says his fight is far from over. He plans to lobby MPs, push for a change in the law, and take his campaign “onto the streets” if necessary. He also spoke candidly about the toll the ordeal has taken on his health, saying he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder comparable to that experienced by veterans of the Iraq war.
“That gives you an idea of the damage they’ve done to me – and to so many others who have been victims of miscarriages of justice,” he said.
For Mr O’Brien, the message is simple: “Justice delayed is justice denied – and in our case, it’s been denied twice.”
