Now Yorkshire Ripper could get benefits

In a move that has sparked outrage, inmates detained at Broadmoor and other maximum security psychiatric institutions have launched a claim against the Government in the European Court of Human Rights.

It could mean Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Moors Murderer Ian Brady getting up to £132.60 a week in state pension payments.

Thousands of other prisoners would be entitled to income support and other taxpayer-funded handouts if European judges uphold their claim.

The latest example of the growing crisis over human rights rulings from Strasbourg – following demands for prisoners to get the vote – triggered a wave of revulsion last night.

It added to the pressure on David Cameron to curb the influence of European judges on British laws.

Conservative MP Peter Bone said: “We should be charging prisoners for their bed and board, not paying them ­state benefits. Only the most bonkers Left-wing busybody would think it right to pay benefits to prisoners.

“This court is becoming a joke and the sooner we leave its jurisdiction, the better. The more stupid these cases become, the stronger the case gets for pulling out.”

Another Tory MP Priti Patel said: “These are convicted criminals who have done heinous things. If you are found culpable, as these men were, you forfeit all rights to welfare benefits or compensation.”

Taxpayers face a £2million annual bill if the claim is upheld by the European Court of Human Rights.

Former shadow home secretary David Davis said: “Yet again this is not an issue of human rights but of lawyers trying to play the system on behalf of their clients. It is to be hoped that when the state tries to do the best possible thing, both for society and to rehabilitate criminals, these efforts are not crippled by the meddling of the European Court.”

Emma Boon, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance pressure group, said: “It is another example of the European Court of Human Rights making decisions that should be made here in Britain. We should be able to decide who gets benefits and who should not.”

Yesterday Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke insisted the Government would not withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. He said: “We’re a coalition Government with a range of opinions across it, not just between the parties.” He said Britain could join other nations in pressing for an overhaul of the court. Mr Clarke also claimed the inmates had little chance of success, saying: “Well, I don’t think they’re likely to win it, are they?”

He claimed inmates from Broadmoor and Rampton had been rebuffed in a similar court action two decades ago. “I won’t anticipate the judgment of the court but when people inside Broadmoor have tried to claim benefits in the past, they have not got any success.” The criminals are claiming it is discriminatory that some patients in Broadmoor and other secure hospitals are entitled to income support, pension credits or jobseekers’ allowance while they are not.

They get between £18 and £21 a week “pocket money” while those not convicted of a crime, or who were sent by the courts rather than being sentenced, are entitled to state benefits.

The claimants are referred to only by their initials in court papers but are known to include murderers and rapists. Four are held in secure hospitals while another is a former inmate. They are described as:

FA, a 44-year-old man convicted of murder in 1995 and jailed for a minimum of 22 years. After being sent to Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire in 1996 he was convicted of attempting to murder a fellow patient.

HB, a 63-year-old man detained at Broadmoor who received life with a minimum tariff of 19 years in 2001 for murder.

ALF, a 40-year-old man convicted of rape, attempted rape and indecent assault in 1999 who received life. Although his 10-year minimum tariff expired last year, he is still detained.

EM, a 65-year-old sentenced to life for grievous bodily harm in 2003 and held at Thornford Park Hospital.

SS, a 33-year-old man released in 2007 from a 12-year sentence for an unknown crime. He is seeking damages for benefits he claims he is owed for his time in detention.

The claimants want the judges to grant them income support of £65.45 a week or pension payments if they are old enough. They also want compensation for handouts not paid since a shake-up of the rules in 2006.

Paul Bowen, the barrister for all five claimants, said: “I am confident this is a case we ought to bring. What does it say about our society that we are prepared to punish people when we send them to a psychiatric hospital?”

Brady, 73, serving life for killing five children on Saddleworth Moor in the 1960s and detained at Ashworth Hospital, Merseyside, could get a weekly pension of £132.60. Sutcliffe, in Broadmoor serving life for murdering 13 women, could be entitled to a similar sum when he reaches 65 this year.

The claimants failed to overturn the current rules at the Court of Appeal in London last year and were refused Legal Aid for an appeal but submitted a full application to the Strasbourg court the following day.