IF Peter Fell had admitted he was guilty of double murder it's quite likely he would have been released after ten years or so.

But he didn't admit it because he hadn't done it - but the courts did not recognise that until he had served 18 years behind bars.

Now, three years after he was released, Mr Fell is still awaiting the compensation for the life he lost because he was wrongly convicted.

The reason for the hold up is that the Home Office has been fighting through the courts to reduce the figures that have been paid until now by 25%.

The Government's reasoning is for the cut is that the 25% covers living expenses people like Peter Fell would have had to meet if they had been in the outside world.

The argument falls on grounds of logic because outside prison cash, for example, put into house purchase is not lost money. Homes are investments and have appreciated in value.

To most people this cut looks like nothing more than a straightforward manoeuvre to save cash dressed up and presented as something else.

When he was finally cleared, Peter Fell was let out of prison with no support or after care.

As MP Greg Pope says, he has been let down by the law at every turn and a system which, it seems, is incapable of gracefully admitting it was wrong.