Scores of Muslim inmates at a high security prison are set to launch a multi-million pound claim for compensation after they were offered ham sandwiches during the holy month of Ramadan.
They are now launching legal action, insisting that their human rights were breached and could each be entitled to up to £10,000 in compensation if they win their case at court.
They say their human rights were breached when they were given a special nightly menu - drawn up to recognise their specific dietary requirements - by officers at HMP Leeds last month.
More than 200 Muslim inmates at the jail are believed to have been offered the meat which is strictly forbidden by Islam.
One Muslim inmate, a 28-year-old who was serving a 16-week sentence for driving whilst disqualified, said: 'When I opened my meal that night I found I'd been given a ham sandwich. I'd asked for cheese.
'It was a breach of my human rights and I want compensation.'
He claimed that some inmates were so hungry they ended up eating the sandwiches
[url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article...
Do we have too much time on our hands?
I doubt there's much truth to the main thrust of this story.
Halfway down the story read what the Ministry of Justice says: inappropriate menus were issued. But this was then corrected immediately.
Most likely no-one got a ham sandwich unless they ordered one.
The way this story is written is an active attempt to make Muslims look irrational and play down a separate and more realistic case against Leeds Prison of mistreatment.
The Mail only quotes one Muslim prisoner who got a ham sandwich when he ordered a cheese one (bear in mind "The prison denied that any Muslim prisoners had been given ham sandwiches"). He is not representative of the other 200 Muslims in the prison and he does not mention any sums of money.
To read about the case of mistreatment you have go down to the 15th para of this 21 para story. The lawyer for the 16 men in this case says that non-halaal meat is only [b]one[/b] of the issues in a larger case against conditions at the prison. 17th para: Kate Maynard, from law firm Hickman and Rose Solicitors who is representing some of the men, said: 'One of the issues they are worried about is that they were being told food was halal when it wasn't.
[b]As a rule of thumb don't believe anything you read in the Daily Mail. [/b]
PS Where the Daily Mail headline says "Muslim prisoners sue for millions..." the first para says "Scores of Muslim inmates at a high security prison are set to launch a multi-million pound claim for compensation". Two different things. Compare this to the [url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/27/nham127.... which says "Muslim prisoners are considering suing the authorities for £2 million". So which is it: "sue for millions", "set to claim", or "considering suing"?
PPS The Telegraph doesn't even mention the case of mistreatment.