Lawyers fight jail costs battle

Michael O'Brien was wrongly jailed for 11 years

Home Office lawyers are going back to court in a row over charging a man for prison food and accommodation.

They are seeking a judicial review over money deducted fro compensation awarded to Michael O'Brien for wrongful imprisonment.

He was one of three men convicted of killing Cardiff newsagent owner Philip Saunders in 1987. All were cleared in 1999, after a long legal battle.

But Mr O'Brien said he was "absolutely livid" when his final award of £650,000 for wrongful imprisonment was reduced by £37,000 - when board and lodge costs were deducted.

But in a test case in April, a High Court judge ruled the deduction should not have been made.

The Home Office is now seeking a judicial review. He was one of three men who spent 11 years in jail for the murder and robbery of newsagent Philip Saunders.

Philip Saunders, murder victim

Mr Saunders, who ran a kiosk at Cardiff Bus Station, was killed in 1987.

Mr O'Brien was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, along with Darren Hall and Ellis Sherwood. All three had denied any involvement.

When the legal row over compensation went to court, counsel Heather Williams asked Mr Justice Maurice Kay to rule that it was unfair to charge a wrongly convicted man for food and lodgings while in prison.

Speaking outside the court, Mr O'Brien said he felt the Home Office was "re-asserting his guilt" with its decision to charge him for the time he spent in jail.

"I know there is no way they should be doing this to me," he said.

"I have never even had an apology from these people. All we are asking for in this case is justice and that is what I am in court today to see."