Kevan Thakrar: Killer compensated for damaged nose clippers Published duration 28 April 2014

image copyright Hertfordshire Police image caption Kevan Thakrar was sentenced to a minimum of 35 years in prison in 2007

A triple killer won £800 compensation after items including his nose hair clippers were damaged in prison.

Kevan Thakrar, 26, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, who is serving three life sentences for killing drug dealers, also lost his cranberry juice.

District Judge Neil Hickman said there had been a "cavalier disregard for Mr Thakrar's rights and his property".

The POA union, which represents prison workers, said it was "in despair" at the "ridiculous award".

Thakrar was jailed after he and his brother killed Keith Cowell, 52, his son Matthew, 17, and Tony Dulieu, 33, from Essex, at the Cowells' house in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, in 2007. They were also sentenced for two attempted murders.

In March 2010, Thakrar maimed three guards at Frankland Prison in County Durham after stabbing them with a broken bottle, but was cleared of two counts of attempted murder and three of wounding with intent.

Lost photographs

Following the attack, Thakrar was moved from Frankland to Woodhill Prison in Milton Keynes and it was during this move that some of his possessions went missing.

image caption Kevan Thakrar was jailed for life along with his brother after the murders

image caption The 26-year-old was moved to Woodhill Prison after an attack at another jail

According to the court judgment, detailed on Thakrar's Facebook page set up by campaigners protesting his innocence, he was awarded £224.97 for damage to his stereo, alarm clock and nasal clippers.

He was also awarded £90 after items including a carton of cranberry juice, protein powder and toiletries were lost, which he claimed left him "stressed".

Judge Hickman awarded him a further £500 to compensate him for lost photographs and personal items, making £814.97 in total.

The prison ombudsman had originally offered Thakrar £10 in compensation, but he took the case to court last year and Judge Hickman ruled that he deserved a further payout.

'In despair'

Peter McParlin, national chairman of the POA, said: "It's a ridiculous award, it's a disproportionate award.

"This is a high-security prisoner - as a bare minimum it will be costing the taxpayer at least £50,000-a-year to be kept incarcerated.

"He's the architect of his own situation and we are in despair."

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "We robustly defend all cases as far as the evidence allows."