London, Sept 27(ANI): A prison van was sent 100 miles to take a suspect to court because it was claimed that walking in handcuffs for 30 seconds in public could breach the prisoner's human rights.
Oliver Thomas, 27, who spent a night at the Banbury police station on charges of attempted robbery, was provided a van to take him to a court located 60 yards away, a drive that cost about 1000 pounds.
Judge Tom Corrie slammed the move as a waste of taxpayers' cash after Thomas turned up late at the Oxford Crown court hearing, the Daily Mail reports.
"I'm not quite sure why he couldn't be walked across the street rather than sending a van from Southampton. I wonder how much public money has been wasted," he said.
An Oxford -based company GEOAmey, which provided the van, said it sent the vehicle on the two-hour journey from Southampton to protect Thomas' identity, and spare him from the disgrace of walking in public.
"Police wouldn't expect us to turn up at Banbury, handcuff a prisoner and take him down the street and to the court. Generally speaking we don't see that in this country. It strays into the area of human rights. They have a right to have their identity protected", a company spokesperson said.
Prison Officers' Association's Glyn Travis denounced the move as a drain on public resources.
"In the past police would have been able to walk him to the station themselves but now because of the contracts with private companies they are not able to do so. It is wrong for the contractors to think they needed to move a van nearly 100 miles to protect the human rights of the prisoner," he said.
GEOAmey earns 90 million pounds a year to take suspects between custody and courts. (ANI)
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