Five men awarded 9.5 million kroner for wrongful detention

Five men acquitted of attempted murder after receiving life sentences at trial have been awarded a total of 9,537,443.44 kroner for wrongful pre-trial detention, DR reported.

The Glostrup court awarded each man between 1,436,900 and 2,443,043.44 kroner. The compensation will also accrue interest from the dates the claims were filed, nearly three years ago, adding about 3 million kroner in total.

The men were charged with attempting to kill members of the rival gang Loyal To Familia in incidents in May 2020. They had spent years in pre-trial detention by the time the Eastern High Court overturned their life sentences and acquitted them.

Defence lawyer Michael Juul Eriksen, who represents one of the men, said his client had been detained for three years and four months. He said on Thursday that four of the five had been held for roughly the same length of time, while the fifth had been detained for less.

Figures from the National Police show that 50.4 million kroner was paid to people for wrongful imprisonment last year.