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Calls to amend payout rules for wrongly convicted

Anna Collinson & Claire Kendall
BBC News
Stephen Fildes / BBC Brian Buckle looks straight towards the camera - he is wearing square glasses and a black jumper. He has short dark hair and dark stubble, and is pictured in a kitchen.Stephen Fildes / BBC
Brian Buckle spent five years in prison for crimes he did not commit

"I just burst out crying," says Brian Buckle, recalling the moment he read the rejection letter from the Ministry of Justice after applying for compensation.

It said it accepted Brian was "innocent" of the sexual offences he had been wrongly imprisoned for, but he had failed to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that he had not committed the crimes.

Brian had been completely cleared of the sex abuse charges he had been jailed for in 2017.

A five-year legal battle had culminated in the Court of Appeal finding his conviction unsafe. Brian's legal team produced a detailed defence including new witnesses and fresh forensic evidence, at a three-week retrial in 2023. The jury unanimously returned a verdict of "not guilty" in just over an hour.

Image showing part of the typed letter sent to Mr Buckle. One paragraph has been highlighted in larger text. It reads, 'I do not consider... your case demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that you did not commit the offences for which you were convicted'.
Extract from the compensation rejection letter Brian Buckle received from the Ministry of Justice

During the struggle to clear his name, Brian used savings and family loans to pay for his legal fees - totalling £500,000. This is equal to the total amount of compensation that Brian was able to apply for.

The letter from the Ministry of Justice came nearly a year after he first submitted his application. The assessor, who had never spoken to Brian or his legal team, said he wasn't eligible for a pay-out because there was not enough proof that he had hadn't carried out the offences.

"What do I need to do to prove that I'm an innocent person":[]}