Lake, who has campaigned for his constituent for the past two years, said the case was one of the clearest injustices he had come across in his nine years as an MP.<\/p>\n
He said he was “so disappointed” by the outcome, as he hoped the review would have resulted in a pay-out “for what the state has done to Brian”.<\/p>\n
“I’m not going to let this lie. If that means that I’m to drag ministers to the House of Commons or Westminster Hall, and table questions until they finally do the right thing, then so be it.”<\/p>\n
Buckle’s compensation claim was rejected due to a subtle but important change in the law in 2014. <\/p>\n
Previously, compensation was paid out if the claimant had established, beyond reasonable doubt, that any reasonable jury could not convict on the evidence provided.<\/p>\n
In Buckle’s retrial the jury found him “not guilty” after hearing new witnesses and forensic evidence, which would have made him eligible for a pay-out.<\/p>\n
But since 2014, compensation is only paid to those who can prove they did not commit the crime, which Vullo said was impossible as no DNA or CCTV evidence exists to conclusively prove Buckle’s innocence.<\/p>\n
“If you were to ask me to draft a piece of legislation that would ensure that almost everybody was turned down for compensation, I’d draft something similar to this (current law),” said Vullo.<\/p>\n
“It’s not by mistake, it’s intentional,” he claimed.<\/p>\n
An MoJ assessment on the impact into the law change at the time stated that the intended effect was to lessen the burden on taxpayers.<\/p>\n
Miscarriages of justice compensation has become an increasingly contentious issue.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the Law Commission was asked by the UK government to include compensation and support for the wrongly convicted in its ongoing review of criminal appeals for England and Wales.<\/p>\n
Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own compensation schemes for miscarriages of justice.<\/p>\n
The Post Office Horizon computer system scandal has been described as one of the UK’s most widespread miscarriages of justice. Four separate compensation schemes have been established for victims to receive pay-outs, as they would not have been eligible under the scheme which rejected Brian’s application.<\/p>\n