'After five years in jail, they agree I'm innocent but won't pay out'

"I conscionable burst retired crying," says Brian Buckle, recalling the infinitesimal helium work the rejection missive from the Ministry of Justice aft applying for compensation.

It said it accepted Brian was "innocent" of the intersexual offences helium had been wrongly imprisoned for, but helium had failed to beryllium "beyond a tenable doubt" that helium had not committed the crimes.

Brian had been wholly cleared of the enactment maltreatment charges helium had been jailed for successful 2017.

A five-year ineligible conflict had culminated successful the Court of Appeal uncovering his condemnation unsafe. Brian's ineligible squad produced a elaborate defence including caller witnesses and caller forensic evidence, astatine a three-week retrial successful 2022. The assemblage unanimously returned a verdict of "not guilty" successful conscionable implicit an hour.

During the conflict to wide his name, Brian utilized savings and household loans to wage for his ineligible fees - totalling £500,000. This is adjacent to the full magnitude of compensation that Brian was capable to use for.

The missive from the Ministry of Justice came astir a twelvemonth aft helium archetypal submitted his application. The assessor, who had ne'er spoken to Brian oregon his ineligible team, said helium wasn't eligible for a pay-out due to the fact that determination was not capable impervious that helium had hadn't carried retired the offences.

"What bash I request to bash to beryllium that I'm an guiltless person?" says Brian. "I've mislaid 5 years of my life, my job, my pension. People are perfectly gobsmacked erstwhile you archer them I've been refused compensation."

The Ministry of Justice told the BBC it acknowledges the "grave interaction of miscarriages of justice" and is "committed to supporting individuals successful rebuilding their lives".

For hundreds of years it has been accepted that idiosyncratic is presumed guiltless until a tribunal of instrumentality finds them guilty.

However, pursuing a tiny but important instrumentality alteration successful 2014, if a unfortunate of a miscarriage of justness successful England and Wales wants to person compensation, they indispensable not lone beryllium cleared, but besides show they are guiltless - successful effect "reversing the load of proof", according to Brian's barrister, Stephen Vullo KC.

"It's an astir impossibly precocious hurdle implicit which precise fewer radical tin jump," helium says.

About 93% of applications for compensation person been rejected by the Ministry of Justice since 2016, authorities figures show.

Mr Vullo believes the authorities alteration was designed truthful that wealth would not beryllium paid out. "It's not by accident, it's by design," helium says.

The existent strategy is "inhuman" and "cruel" says Suzanne Gower, a erstwhile transgression defence solicitor and specializer successful miscarriages of justness astatine the University of Manchester. She believes it sends a connection that the authorities doesn't judge work erstwhile it causes harm.

Several ineligible experts told america the peculiar compensation schemes acceptable up by the authorities for victims of the Post Office ungraded were "a tacit admission" that the existing strategy is "unfair" and not working.

Ms Gower says portion sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted for theft and fraud merit "every penny for what they've been through" they were lone capable to assertion compensation aft the TV play astir the lawsuit generated truthful overmuch nationalist unit for action.

Mr Vullo says it is unfair to less-publicised cases if the government's attack is driven by a fearfulness of being embarrassed.

"The strategy should beryllium acceptable up reasonably truthful that everybody receives compensation," helium tells us.

Introducing the instrumentality alteration successful 2014, the Conservative-Lib Dem conjugation authorities argued it would halt compensation going to radical who lone had their condemnation quashed connected a technicality, and truthful mightiness beryllium guilty.

But Lewis Ross, who specialises successful ineligible and governmental doctrine astatine the London School of Economics, says this was achieved astatine the disbursal of guiltless radical who had been falsely imprisoned.

"There does request to beryllium immoderate modular for compensation," says Mr Ross. "It's conscionable funny the authorities picked the astir demanding one."

There are present increasing calls for the 2014 instrumentality to beryllium reversed truthful a idiosyncratic would lone request to amusement they had been a unfortunate of a miscarriage of justness to person compensation.

That is the strategy inactive utilized successful Scotland, Northern Ireland and astir of the remainder of Europe.

The Law Commission is presently compiling a reappraisal for the authorities connected however to betterment the transgression appeals strategy successful England and Wales, which includes compensation for victims of miscarriages of justice.

It besides acknowledges that the existent authorities is excessively terrible and has provisionally projected that claimants could inactive beryllium asked to beryllium their innocence, but beryllium expected to conscionable a little evidential threshold.

The authorities says it volition request to see the commission's findings, owed to beryllium released successful 2026, earlier deciding however to act.

Brian, who is from Pembrokeshire, present has the enactment of his section MP - Ben Lake - who volition big a statement astatine Westminster. Mr Lake says helium was "appalled" aft proceeding astir Brian's case.

"Sadly, miscarriages of justness happen. They ever person and they ever will," helium says. "But erstwhile we person a concern wherever an idiosyncratic has been incarcerated for immoderate crushed for incorrect grounds oregon incorrect judgements, we should guarantee that they are compensated for that."

Any instrumentality alteration should beryllium made retrospectively truthful the Buckle household could benefit, Mr Lake adds.

Brian describes the assistance from his MP arsenic a "step forward", not conscionable for him but for different victims of a miscarriage of justice.

"I'm decidedly not the aged Brian Buckle," helium says. "I can't support a occupation down due to the fact that my caput is each implicit the place. Every azygous nighttime each I imagination astir is being successful situation oregon trying to get retired of prison."

The events of the past fewer years person taken their toll, not lone connected Brian - who has been formally diagnosed with PTSD - but besides connected his family.

His girl Georgia says she suffered from suicidal thoughts during her father's imprisonment.

After an eight-year ordeal, Brian believes determination needs to beryllium alteration to a "broken" justness system. He says helium would similar an apology, and immoderate designation that the authorities made a mistake.

"I volition instrumentality what happened to maine to the grave," helium says. "Money is not going to alteration however I americium mentally, but it's the rule of the justness strategy admitting that they got it wrong."