Pressure is being put on the Government to compensate a Pembrokeshire man who spent five years in prison for sex crimes he did not commit.

Brian Buckle was wrongfully convicted in 2017 of 16 counts of rape and sexual assault.  A Court of Appeal quashed his conviction and at his retrial, a jury found him not guilty on all charges after just one hour’s deliberation.

But despite his exoneration, Brian Buckle has been denied financial compensation by the Ministry of Justice, claiming his case fails to prove ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ that he did not commit the offences.

Now Brian’s family, with the support of his barrister Stephen Vullo KC, is calling for a fair compensation scheme to be implemented for his wrongful convictions.   A petition launched by his wife, Elaine, is calling for a parliamentary reform, and the petition has already been signed by over 38,000 people.

“My family sacrificed everything to clear my name,” said Brian Buckle.

“ My father-in-law sold his house to fund my legal fight and the emotional and financial toll has been devastating. My wife’s inheritance is gone, and the money spent on legal fees can never be recovered.

 “I lost a well-paying job I’d held for 16 years, I missed my daughter’s 18th and 21st birthdays and I missed irreplaceable moments with my family.

“Now I’m living with PTSD, and even though I’m a free man, the trauma of those five years will never fully leave me.

“I don’t want millions – I just want recognition of the injustice I suffered and the chance to rebuild my life.”

The total amount spent by Brian Buckle’s family to clear his name stands at £500,000  This is equal to the total amount of compensation that Brian was able to apply for. A letter from the Ministry of Justice arrived almost a year after he first submitted his application and the assessor, who had never spoken to Brian or his legal team, concluded he wasn’t eligible for a pay-out because there was insufficient proof that he had hadn’t carried out the offences.

“What do I need to do to prove that I’m an innocent person?” says Brian. “I’ve lost five years of my life, my job, my pension. People are absolutely gobsmacked when you tell them I’ve been refused compensation.”

In a previous BBC statement, The Ministry of Justice said  it acknowledges the ‘grave impact of miscarriages of justice’ and is ‘committed to supporting individuals in rebuilding their lives’.

For hundreds of years it has been accepted that someone is presumed innocent until a court of law finds them guilty, however, following a small but significant law change in 2014, if a victim of a miscarriage of justice in England and Wales wants to receive compensation, they must not only be cleared, but also demonstrate they are innocent.  But according to Stephen Vullo KC, this reverses the burden of proof and says this is ‘an almost impossibly high hurdle over which very few people can jump’.

Mr Vullo believes the legislation change was designed so that money would not be paid out. “It’s not by accident, it’s by design,” he says.

Government figures show that around 93% of  compensation applications have been rejected by the Ministry of Justice since 2016.

Brian, who lives in Fishguard, is being politically supported by his MP Ben Lake, who said he was ‘appalled’ after hearing about his case.

“Sadly, miscarriages of justice happen,” he said.  “They always have and they always will.

 “But when we have a situation where an individual has been incarcerated for whatever reason for incorrect evidence or incorrect judgements, we should ensure that they are compensated for that.”

Mr Lake said that any law change should be made retrospectively, enabling the Buckle family to benefit.

Meanwhile Brian Buckle continues his battle to pick up the pieces following his wrongful term in prison.

“I will take what happened to me to the grave,” he said. “Money is not going to change how I am mentally, but it’s the principle of the justice system admitting that they got it wrong.”

Brian Buckle’s petition can be signed on this link