Edmund Bruton, pictured, has written a ‘how to guide’ to assist prisoners in suing the Ministry of Justice
A prisoner who won a £74,000 compensation battle with the prison service after guards illegally opened his mail has created a ‘how to guide’ for other inmates to sue jail chiefs.
Edmund Bruton, who was jailed indefinitely in 2011 after driving his car at 80mph into his ex-girlfriend’s home in a jealous rage – texting her ‘I will be waiting for you in hell’ just before smashing into her house – won a settlement of just under £74,000 earlier this year.
The 48-year-old, who was found guilty of damaging property with intent to endanger life and dangerous driving, said that he wanted other inmates to ‘stand up for their rights’.
Writing from his cell at HMP Onley in Northamptonshire in prisoners’ magazine Inside Time in the latest edition out this week, he said he had been inundated with requests for advice by other inmates who heard of his compensation win.
He wrote: ‘I have had a lot of correspondence since winning a judicial review for the prison tampering with my mail and opening legal correspondence illegally.
‘A lot of people want to know how they can bring their own claims. Therefore, here is a bit of guidance:
‘The claim I brought against HMP Swaleside and the Prison Service cost the MoJ £73,806.
‘If all prisoners brought their own claims for mail tampering it is highly likely that the MoJ and Prison Service would train their staff to stop acting unlawfully and wasting money from the public purse defending the indefensible.’
He added: ‘Firstly, prison law legal aid cannot be used to bring judicial review challenges against the state.
‘It is important that you fully exhaust the COMP1, COMP1a internal complaint forms (note – a COMP1a must be submitted within 7-days of receiving a COMP1 reply) before applying for legal aid.
‘I would recommend that you photocopy or make a written copy of any internal complaint form you submit (due to the prison system’s propensity to ‘lose’ such forms).
‘I would also recommend that you ask other prisoners who have also experienced mail tampering to write a short statement, including their name, prison number, date, what prison it happened in and a short summary of what happened – i.e. ‘Rule 39 letter received already opened from censors’. These notes should be signed and dated.’
Bruton caused more than £60,000 in damage to his ex-girlfriend’s house during the attack
Bruton attempted to take his own life and was in a coma for six days after the attack
He added: ‘If unlawful mail tampering has occurred more than twice, then contact the Public Law department of one of the firms I’ve mentioned, or any other legal firms who will handle these matters.
‘Every inspection by HMCIP lists the percentage of legal mail opened at that prison illegally despite years of them being told that it is illegal, but prison governors just shrug and promise improvements.
‘They are breaking the law daily, don’t let them get away with it.
‘If it starts costing them £70-odd thousand every time they lose a case, and there’s little chance they can win, then maybe this official lawbreaking will stop. Stand up for your rights.’
Bruton was awarded the damages – which includes legal aid – at the High Court in April this year after His Honour Judge McKenna ruled that officers at three different prisons – HMP Swaleside, HMP Coldingley and HMP Onley – had opened legally privileged letters addressed to him.
The judge ruled that there had been ’34 breaches’ of the confidential mail regime – under rule 39 of the Prison Rules, which sets out that legal correspondence is subject to confidential handling arrangements – between April 2014 and February 2017.
The judge also found that Mr Bruton’s privacy rights under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been infringed.
The judge said: ‘The right of a prisoner to have unimpeded access to his lawyer is part of the constitutional right to access to justice safeguarded by the common law and that right has clearly been breached in this case even if there has been no deliberate policy of targeting of the claimant and even if in fact the material was not read.
‘The effect of the repeated breaches has led to the claimant being deterred from pursuing his rights because of concerns that his mail would be opened and read.
‘It is necessary and appropriate, having regard to all the circumstances, to make an award of financial compensation. Just satisfaction would not in the circumstances of this case lie in his having established by way of findings in a judgment of public record certain infringements in respect of his rights.’
Bruton, of Wembley, north west London, was caged indefinitely in October 2011 after a trial at Inner London Crown Court.
The court heard how he had drunk a bottle of antifreeze before driving his car at around 80mph into the Berkshire home of his ex partner Tara Lavery in February 2011.
The court heard how he suspected his ex-partner, who he met in January 2010, of beginning a new relationship and sent her a text reading ‘I will be waiting for you in hell…you could have avoided this if you answered me’ just before smashing his car through her house.
His car smashed through his ex-partner’s bay window before coming to a halt in her front room, causing £62,000-worth of damage.
Bruton was in a coma for six days after smashing his car into Miss Lavery’s living room, but recovered and was jailed.
Judge Lindsay Burn told Bruton in 2011: ‘You deliberately drove into her house, knowing that she was inside and you intended to do so in a way that endangered life.
‘It is merely by chance that no more damage was done to the occupants of the house and that their injuries were not more serious or in fact fatal.’