MISCARRIAGE of Justice victim David Bryant says he’s still waiting for compensation from the government nearly two years after he was told it would take ‘three months’.

Mr Bryant, a retired fire chief from Christchurch, spent three years in jail after police believed the lies of a fantasist and investigated his allegation that Mr Bryant, 69, had raped him.

Mr Bryant, was sentenced to six years in 2014.

His conviction was quashed in 2016, after the case against him disintegrated when it was revealed his accuser admitted previously to medics he had an “extensive history” of lying. Mr Bryant’s late wife, Lynn, helped clear her husband’s name, hiring a private investigator who discovered reports not previously used in the police case.

In January 2018 a High Court judge said Mr Bryant’s accuser had made “false allegations... to seek personal attention and drama.”

Following that High Court judgement he made his compensation application to the MoJ but, he says, he’s heard nothing since.

“I’ve no idea why it’s been held up, I can’t get any sense from the Ministry of Justice, my barrister’s tried umpteen times and he gets periodic updates where they say it’s under ‘active investigation’ but nothing happens,” he said.

“I don’t know what ‘active investigation’ actually means. I don’t understand what there is to investigate or find out -three High Court judges said I was not guilty with the evidence they had but the Ministry of Justice seems to be saying we’re not sure yet.

“I’m disillusioned with the justice system to say the least.”

The Daily Echo contacted the Ministry of Justice to ask when the investigation had started, at what stage it was currently at, what was the reason for the hold-up and if any delay was because of ‘embarrassment’ at the mistakes made.

The Ministry could not say when they started investigating the case or what it was that needed further investigation in Mr Bryant’s case.

A spokesman said: “Claims are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. There was a letter issued in August saying that we are not yet able to give an indication of when a decision could be made but we’ll update him in due course. That’s the only thing we can say at this point.”