TWO prisoners who were jailed in Nottingham have been given a compensation payout for being locked up for too long.
Figures released by the Ministry of Justice show that, so far this financial year, £5,000 in compensation has been handed out to prisoners.
It was given to two inmates who were incarcerated in HMP Nottingham for longer than their original court sentence.
The last time the prison paid out money to a criminal for what the Ministry of Justice categorises as "extended detention", was four years ago in the financial year of 2008/9 when £850 was given to a prisoner.
Prisons are responsible for ensuring that inmates serve the correct amount of time for their crime, and are released on time.
Joe Simpson, the assistant general secretary for the Prison Officers' Association, said the payout was a "mistake" on the prison's behalf.
"It is a mistake; this is taxpayers' money at the end of the day and it's the type of mistake which should be eradicated in the future.
"I know new IT systems are being installed within prisons to try and eradicate exactly this type of thing.
"A prisoner's release date should be calculated within a few days of a prisoner arriving at jail. I can only put it down to human error. Things like this very rarely come into the public eye, because the prison service will usually settle on a payment out of court.
"It's the right thing to do in highlighting this issue."
The current governor for Nottingham prison was unavailable to talk to the Post, however the former governor, Peter Wright, who left last year said: "I don't know the details of these particular cases.
"However, in general it is the prison's duty to release people on time, but there can be complications – there can be delays from court, sentences can change, so things like this do happen."
The Ministry of Justice refused to release any details about how much longer the inmates had been detained, or what crime they had committed.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "All prisoner claims are robustly defended so far as the evidence allows.
"Claims are only settled on the basis of strong legal advice and compensation amounts are determined on the law and evidence of each case and the Judicial Studies Board guidelines on general damages."