Legal case foiled courtesy of a lack of bananas

Prisoners who bring legal action for, amongst other issues, a lack of meal-time bananas, and spiders in cells, face having their claims for compensation curbed.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) revealed that in the past year it had already saved the taxpayer £58 million by successfully challenging more than 1,700 spurious bids by prisoners to get compensation. Consequently, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said his new British Bill of Rights would make it harder for prisoners to bring suspect claims by introducing a "permission" stage to stop them.

Among the dubious cases was a criminal who, after finding a spider in his cell, claimed he was being subject to torture under human rights legislation. Another prisoner alleged he broke his ankle from slipping on a wet prison floor - CCTV footage revealed he actually fell while running and jumping over two "wet floor" signs after stealing a pasty from the prison canteen. 

A third offender claimed his human rights were being abused under the Human Rights Act by being supplied with 'inedible' food, as prison staff had stopped providing him with bananas. A fourth claimed a breach of article eight, the human right to a family life, as he had not been provided with hair clippers for five months, a claim which was struck out without hearing on the basis of being without merit.

"These trivial compensation claims clog up the justice system and waste hard-working taxpayers' money. Our new Bill of Rights will restore some common sense and fairness to the justice system," said Mr Raab.  

The new permission stage under the Bill will allow courts to weed out claims that are trivial, opportunistic and baseless, by creating a filter for judges to assess the validity of a claim before it goes to a full hearing.

The MoJ stated that every claim was investigated and, where fraud was suspected, prisoners were prosecuted and that their dishonesty was factored in as they worked towards release.

In instances where claims were upheld, the Government is seeking to redirect litigation damages to the courts if they have any outstanding debts, and to their victims.

The Johnson Partnership

Nottingham Solicitors

01159 419141