Victims of historic miscarriages of justice, such as Andrew Malkinson and Paul Blackburn, are facing further injustice as they are being forced to pay back substantial sums for their time wrongly spent behind bars. Despite being exonerated, these individuals have seen significant deductions from their compensation payouts for 'bed and board' costs.

Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years wrongly imprisoned for a rape he did not commit, and Paul Blackburn, who served 25 years before being cleared, are among those affected. In Blackburn’s case, £100,000 was deducted from his compensation in 2011 for rent and food costs, which was calculated on the presumption that he would not have worked and would have been on benefits as a free man. Blackburn criticised this, stating it’s akin to "punishing him twice" and suggested he might challenge the decision legally.

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While the policy allowing such deductions was abolished last year by then-Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, the government has refused to apply this change retrospectively. This means those like Blackburn, who were compensated before the policy's removal, are not eligible for refunds. Paymaster General Nick Thomas-Symonds defended the government's stance, saying it’s standard practice not to apply policy changes retrospectively.

The decision has sparked significant controversy, with critics arguing it compounds the suffering of those who were wrongly imprisoned and demanding that the government "do the right thing" by refunding the deducted amounts.