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For those of you who worried we'd end up like the US ... you were right
[30.05.11] |
 An Austrian aristocrat who spent six days in a UK prison has complained that he was not treated well and is now saying he will receive £372,000 in compensation. Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly was being held while he was questioned by the Serious Fraud Office on charges of bribery and corruption. He alleges that he was not given a comb or decent underwear during his stay. The compensation payment will be paid by the Government's Central Funds after the charges were dropped. The Count's lawyer revealed the extent of the payment and admits that even the Count was surprised. It was pointed out that in Austria compensation payments for false detainment are just 30 to 50 Euros a day.
The Supreme Court has ruled that a sex offender from Zimbabwe will receive compensation due to a technical problem which prevented the charges against him from being reviewed monthly. Despite the failure to follow correct procedure, it was likely that the man would have been detained in any case. Masimba Kambadzi had been jailed for one year in 2005 because of violence and sexual offences. He was then held for a further two years as the Home Office was trying to deport him. This type of detainment needs to be reviewed regularly. The Home Office have said that they are disappointed that the court has decided the man could be entitled to compensation but that they will still deport him.
It has been reported that Network Rail has spent public funds to pay off an employee who was bringing charges of race and sex discriminations against the company. Vicky Lydford worked in the Network Rail human resources department and was offered £500,000 in compensation on the same day her case was due to go to tribunal. In fact this was not the only misuse of public funds which was under investigation. However in the Lydford case it seems that the money was used to avoid having to answer to inappropriate behaviour and a failure to deal with the problems the employee was having. While it is not against the law to make a payment as a compromise agreement, it should not be paid for with public funds.
Singer Shakin' Stevens has won his case against a photographer who claimed that he was attacked by the performer. The Ballymena court quashed a previous decision which left Stevens with an assault and criminal damage conviction. He had also been forced to pay the photographer 548 Euros in compensation as well as a further fine. The judge decided in this case that the photographer was not telling the truth when he claimed that the singer had hit him with a microphone stand, breaking his camera.
The Bank of Scotland has been given a £3.5 million fine for its poor handling of customer complaints, particularly over the sale of its retail investment products. The FSA has said that the bank rejected up to 45% of their 2500 complaints about these products when they were valid. In fact many of the complaints came from older investors who were not experienced. In addition to the fine, the Banks also has to pay £17 million in compensation to affected customers. The FSA has now opened a wider debate into the way that banks are handling complaints in general and has revealed measures to improve current systems. The companies involved must now make one reply and clearly state if the complaint has been accepted or rejected. Compensation awards which can be given by the Financial Ombudsman have also been increased from a maximum of £100,000 to £150,000.
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