Overview
- Justice Secretary David Lammy disclosed a £7,500 compensation payment and about £234,000 in legal costs after a court found Fuad Awale’s prolonged segregation interfered with his private life under Article 8.
- The High Court said the interference from Awale’s removal from association was of “some significance and duration,” with his lawyers arguing reviews were inadequate and decisions were opaque.
- Awale, serving a life term for two 2011 murders and later taking a prison officer hostage, was held at HMP Woodhill and had not mixed with other inmates since March 17, 2023, often spending only an hour a day out of his cell.
- Lammy said the Ministry of Justice contested the compensation and described the damages as a modest share of the total settlement, which is largely legal costs.
- Conservative figures, including Robert Jenrick, condemned the payout and urged emergency legislation to limit ECHR protections for extremist prisoners, while the government considers operational and legal changes and assesses a recommendation to appeal.