An innocent man who wrongly served 17 years in prison for rape said he is sickened by the idea of paying the prison service back for bed and board if he wins compensation.

Andrew Malkinson, 57, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of seven years after being found guilty of an attack on a woman in Salford, Greater Manchester, in 2003

He has continuously maintained his innocence, even offering to take part in an identity parade following his arrest.

But the woman picked him out, and witnesses with undisclosed criminal records wrongly testified that they had seen him in the area at the time.

The 57-year-old was finally declared a free man after his conviction for rape was overturned by appeal court judges on Wednesday.

But speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday, Mr Malnick said that now he is a free man he will be liable to pay back money to the prison service for “board and lodgings” if he wins compensation. 

Mr Malkinson said:  “In England you have to fight tooth and nail after you’ve already fought tooth and nail. 

“It’s an uphill battle, they don’t like paying compensation.

“Somehow the prison service has, I guess, lobbied the government in the early 2000s such that the result is even if you fight tooth and nail and gain compensation, you then have to pay the prison service a large chunk of that - if you win compensation - for so-called board and lodging, which is so abhorrent to me that I am sickened by it.”

Speaking outside the High Court on Wednesday Mr Malkinson said he had been “kidnapped” by the state.

Flanked by friends and family, as well as representatives of the charity Appeal, which helped him protest his innocence, he said: “I came to the police station in 2003. I told the officers I was innocent. They didn’t believe me.

“I came to the crown court in Manchester in 2004, I told the jury I was innocent, they didn’t believe me.

“I came to this court in 2006 and told them I was innocent but they didn’t believe me.

“I told the Criminal Cases Review Commission I was innocent – they didn’t investigate and they didn’t believe me.

“Today we told this court I was innocent and, finally, they listened. But I was innocent all along, each of those 20 years.”

After Mr Malkinson was declared a free man High Court Judge Lord Justice Tim Holyrode, said: “Almost exactly 20 years ago, on July 19, 2003, a young woman was attacked and raped as she walked to her home.

“In February 2004, this appellant, Andrew Malkinson, was convicted of offences with intent to rape and two offences of rape. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.

“He spent over 17 years in custody. Throughout, he has denied committing any of the offences. He now appeals against his convictions.

“As a result of scientific advances in relation to DNA testing, it became possible in 2022 for tests to be carried out on samples that had been collected during the original police investigation and had been preserved across the years.

“The outcome of that testing was twofold: firstly, it weakened the case which the prosecution presented against Mr Malkinson at his trial. Secondly, it directly implicated another man.”

The Ministry of Justice was contacted for comment.