Prisoner wins human rights claim
A convicted rapist has won a High Court test case ruling that his human rights were breached by the long delay in the Parole Board reviewing the lawfulness of his continued detention.
A senior judge said a shortage of panels to hear cases had denied Samuel Betteridge, 55, the right to a speedy hearing.
The ruling is important because of a crisis in the parole system since the introduction of IPPs - indeterminate sentences to protect the public from dangerous offenders.
The Parole Board has been swamped with hundreds of applications for release in IPP cases, leading to a backlog and scores of human rights challenges and claims for damages.
About 70 other High Court claims were awaiting the outcome of the Betteridge case.
But Mr Justice Collins said the Government was taking steps to remedy the situation, and proceeding with the claims would be "inappropriate", unless there were "very special circumstances".
He ruled that Betteridge's right to a speedy hearing under Article 5(4) of the European Convention on Human Rights had been breached.
But he was not entitled to damages because the evidence showed he was not fit for release in any event.
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
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