UK prison
When Thakrar was a prisoner at HMP Woodhill in 2013 he had complained that his stereo and a number of his CDs were damaged (Representational photo) Getty

Kevan Thakrar, who is serving three life sentences for killing three men with a sub-machine gun, has won a monetary compensation after a judge ruled that his CDs were damaged by a prison guard who deliberately squirted shampoo on them. Thakrar, 27, was imprisoned in 2008.

When Thakrar was a prisoner at HMP Woodhill in 2013, he had complained that his stereo and a number of CDs were damaged during a prison transfer, reported The Independent. He had also complained that he had lost four of his books.

Judge Neil Hickman of the Milton Keynes County Court ruled in favour of Thakrar, who will be paid a compensation of £1,000 ($1,474) by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). In April 2014, the same judge had awarded Thakrar £800 in compensation after his nose hair clippers and other items were damaged.

"He [Kevan Thakrar] appears to be intelligent and articulate and has been able to advance his claim in writing through the County Court. Indeed, some would say that the fact that a claim of this kind can be dealt with at modest cost through the County Court system is a good advertisement for the civil justice system of this country," judge Hickman said.

Criticising the government's legal department, acting on behalf of the MoJ, the judge said: "I regret to say that I have found them of extremely limited assistance because they lacked objective discussion either of the law or of the evidence."

"I am satisfied that the damage to the CDs must have been caused by the deliberate act of one or more prison officers," he added. "In human terms it would be wholly understandable that in the light of what happened to their colleagues at HMP Frankland, other prison officers may have wanted to teach Mr Thakrar something of a lesson. But legally it cannot be any sort of justification."

"We are currently considering this judgment and whether there are grounds to lodge an appeal," a Prison Service spokesperson said. "We robustly defend claims made against the Prison Service where evidence allows, and have managed to successfully defend two thirds of prisoner claims over the last three years."

More about crime