Prison: We're just never done fucking you...

Unjustly Imprisoned Man Must Repay "Room, Board" While in Prison

Warren Blackwell, 38, spent three years in jail as a convicted rapist. However, it turns out that not only did he not commit the crime, there was no crime in the first place. Yet after all his unnecessary suffering, they want him to pay £12,500 for his "room and board" while in prison, the Daily Mail reports.

He had been convicted based on testimony of the "victim," a woman who claimed he raped her at knifepoint early on New Year's Day 1999. An investigation by the Criminal Cases Review Commission later discovered that his accuser had invented the story. And in fact, she turned out to be a "serial accuser," who had falsely accused at least seven other innocent men of similar crimes. She kept changing her name and address, so police never caught on.

Blackwell has been awarded £252,500 as compensation - but they want him to pay the estimated cost of his food and housing while behind bars."It's the principle of the thing. They slam you in jail for three years and four months, brand you a sex attacker, leave your family to cope without you, then turn around and say sorry but demand £12,500 for living expenses incurred during your time inside," Blackwell said.

This isn't the first instance of such a charge in the U.K. Earlier this year the Bridgewater Three, wrongly convicted of a murder, were forced to repay their "room and board" as well. The reasoning giving in the Bridgewater Three case was that if they had been free from prison, they would have incurred living expenses, thus the charges. (source)

If they hadn't been unjustly incarcerated, then they would likely have held jobs, supported their families, etc. It seems like a nominal fee after the compensation, but the principle obviously sucks. His own attorney is telling him it's not worth fighting.