Double murderer awarded £7,500 compensation over human rights breaches

A double murderer has been awarded £7,500 compensation by the High Court over breaches of his human rights.

Fuad Awale, who is serving a life sentence for shooting two teenagers in the head in 2011, was moved to a close supervision centre (CSC) - a special unit for dangerous prisoners - after helping to take a prison officer hostage and threatening to kill him.

He was later stopped from having contact with other prisoners, including one of the men who killed Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, southeast London, in 2013.

Awale claimed it impacted his mental health and breached his human rights.

The High Court last year agreed, ruling that his treatment had breached Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), his right to a private and family life.

The ruling was discussed in parliament in November, when it was revealed that Awale was awarded £234,000 in legal costs by the High Court.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick asked whether Justice Secretary David Lammy would pay any compensation to Awale out of his own pocket instead of using taxpayers' money if he wanted to follow the court's ruling.

In a letter sent to Mr Jenrick on 29 December, Mr Lammy mentioned the previously unreported compensation amount of £7,500 for Awale, which he said "constitutes only a modest proportion of the overall settlement".

"This payment was mandated following a court judgment against the department, after we had defended the claim in line with the established policy of contesting all litigation brought by prisoners convicted of terrorist offences - a policy that has remained consistent under successive governments," Mr Lammy added.

Mr Jenrick accused the deputy prime minister of putting the ECHR "above the safety of officers and the interests of the British people" and "cowing to one of the most despicable terrorists in Britain" in a post on X.

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In a statement on Awale's High Court win, the Ministry of Justice repeated Mr Lammy's letter, saying: "This government will not be cowed by legal threats from prisoners.

"The Separation Centre remains an essential operational tool to protect the public and other prisoners and when dangerous radicalisers pose a risk, they will be placed in one.

"This government is committed to the European Convention on Human Rights. Commitment does not mean complacency, however, and we must keep under review whether the application of the convention is acting as a barrier to us protecting national security."

It comes weeks after Mr Lammy met with ministers from member states signed up to the ECHR, who all agreed to consider reforming the treaty and tackle illegal migration within the existing framework.

In a statement, the member states also called for changes to address decision-making in migration cases including in Article 8.

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