Britain agrees to pay drug addicted convicts damages for cutting off their drugs in prison

UPDATE: Scroll down.

The British Home Office has agreed to pay 200 drug-addicted convicts 700,000 lb St. in damages for "breaching their human rights" by not allowing them to continue taking illegal drugs while in British prisons.

The Home Office made this decision to avoid the risk of losing even more money in a damages trial in civil court. This tells you something about the state of civil courts in Britain, doesn't it? It tells you something more about the backbone of the British Home Office, as well.

With legal and attorney fees, the cost will top 1 million pounds Sterling, or about $1.9 million US.

Someone please tell me this is a bad joke.

UPDATE: Reader Ivor Crook emails from Manchester, England with a little more detail. Ivor says that what happened was that the 200 addicts were all hard drug addicts. When they hit the slammer, they were cut off "cold turkey" without benefit of any medical attention. He says that, under British law, such disregard for a prisoners physical condition is not permitted. Ivor does not necessarily agree nor disagree. He sends this information to us because, "As usual, the facts are right but the papers have distorted them significantly to completely loose the thread of the story."

Thanks, Ivor. But I must say that such a thing as distortion by the press and completely losing the thread of a story could not possibly happen in the USA. Could it?

Please visit the Pale Horse Galleries online store
for art, gifts and collectibles -- all hand made
by Mexican indigenous artists.
Thanks!
TAGS: Great Britain, British Home Office