Malkinson says justice ministry has 'left him to rot' over payout wait

Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a crime he did not commit, says the Ministry of Justice has left him "to rot" after telling him he is likely to wait months before learning if he is even eligible for compensation.

- Emily Dugan

Malkinson had his conviction overturned last year after he was wrongly convicted of a 2003 rape in Greater Manchester. Since the conviction was quashed by the court of appeal 16 months ago, he has been struggling on universal credit and forced to turn to food banks.

The 58-year-old said new requirements to qualify for out-of-work benefits, such as uploading photographs of himself at his home address, left him feeling he was "having to prove I'm not lying all over again".

In an interview with the Guardian, he said: "Almost every day I'm having to jump through some hoops for the authorities. I'm really struggling here. It really feels unjust on top of what they've done, because they said all the platitudes: 'It's appalling', 'poor Mr Malkinson', blah blah blah. OK, it's easy to say that... but you don't mean it, because you do nothing, you just leave me to rot."

Malkinson applied to the official compensation scheme for miscarriages of justice in September. Last week he received a letter advising him that the average wait for a decision on acceptance was 31 weeks, which would take him until April next year. There would then be a further wait to see if any interim money could be given before an eventual sum was decided for payout.