# Wrongly convicted prisoners to pay room and board **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 17, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929 "2004-03-17T22:59:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929/21 "2004-03-19T06:23:39Z")
A fine’s not enough! These wrongfully accused prisoners, leeching off the government! Throw them in prison! ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929/22 "2004-03-19T06:39:11Z")
Yeah, the food in jail is the worst food I’ve ever experienced. The showers didn’t even work in the jail I was in. Luckily I was only there for a single day, and didn’t need to eat OR shower. Just another experience to give me a good old loving trust of the egalitarian American government. Erek ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929/23 "2004-03-19T15:47:19Z")
Information Transit got the wrong man. I got the _right_ man. The wrong one was delivered to me as the right man, I accepted him on good faith as the right man. Was I wrong? Don’t fight it son. Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardize your credit rating. Just keep saying to yourself, it’s only a movie. It’s only a movie. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929/24 "2004-03-19T22:19:03Z")
There _maybe_ more to this than meets the eye… Vincent and Michael Hickey were career criminals and were serving concurrent sentences for armed robbery along with the wrongful Bridgewater convictions. [Cite](http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo960228/debtext/60228-10.htm) I’m not aware of any concurrent sentences for Michael O’Brien, but he was convicted as one of the ‘Cardiff Three’ for the murder of a newsagent. I have not heard any mention of the other two facing the same charges. I don’t know the ins and outs of this ruling but it’s _possible_ that concurrent sentences could have been taken into account… Which would spoil a good news story. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929/25 "2004-03-20T09:02:00Z")
What about the Birmingham Six? ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929/26 "2004-03-20T12:39:00Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > What about the Birmingham Six? I’ve not heard of them or the Guilford Four having their compensation reduced to pay for their time in gaol. I don’t believe any of them served concurrent sentences which haven’t been quashed. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929/27 "2004-03-20T13:10:33Z")
**mascaroni** , the article linked to in the OP mentions the Birmingham Six. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929/28 "2004-03-20T15:16:15Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > **mascaroni** , the article linked to in the OP mentions the Birmingham Six. Missed that in the link, although having googled around, I can’t find any references to any other than the three named being charged. My post was only conjecture… there’s plenty of other news stories that, after digging a little deeper, are not quite what they initially seem. And I found it hard to believe that even Blunkett could stoop so low… it looks like I was wrong… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrongly-convicted-prisoners-to-pay-room-and-board/234929.md?page=1)