Prisoner who bragged of £74K win could lose all to woman he harassed

Notorious prisoner who bragged of winning £74K because guards opened his mail… could lose the lot to woman he sexually harassed 13 years ago

• EXCLUSIVE: Edmund Bruton jailed in 2011 after smashing car into his ex’s home
• Now a woman he sexually harassed in at work wants the £60,000 he owes her 

A notorious prisoner who boasted of costing prison bosses £74,000 in compensation after his private letters were opened could now lose almost all the money to a woman he sexually harassed 13 years ago.

Edmund Bruton was jailed indefinitely in 2011 after drinking antifreeze before driving his car at 80mph into his ex-girlfriend’s home in a jealous rage, texting her ‘I will be waiting for you in Hell’.

He later won the cash pay out at a judicial review after guards illegally opened his mail – and went on to write a ‘how to guide’ from his prison cell to advise other inmates to sue jail chiefs as he had.

But after Bruton boasted of his success – although it’s unclear if he received as much as the £74,000 he claimed – news of the 2017 award was spotted by a woman he had crossed years earlier – and still owed thousands of pounds in compensation to himself.

MailOnline can reveal Bruton never paid an award of £45,000 to a woman he employed at his beauty spa after a tribunal found he sexually harassed her by pressuring her into performing nude massages on him in 2010 – and then sacking her when she stood up to him.

Edmund Bruton was jailed indefinitely in 2011 after drinking antifreeze before driving his car at 80mph into his ex-girlfriend’s home in a jealous rage

Bruton never paid an award of £45,000 to a woman he employed at his beauty spa after a tribunal found he sexually harassed her

The woman is now seeking the original award plus interest from his prison payout.

The 52-year-old mum-of-two – who we have agreed not to name – had almost given up hope of ever seeing the money after Bruton allegedly transferred all his assets to friends and family so he could avoid paying her.

But after reading MailOnline’s report of Bruton’s compensation claim she has re-launched her legal fight and blasted MoJ chiefs for handing over the cash without checking he had any outstanding creditors.

She said: ‘When I read about him boasting about his compensation I was livid, I was absolutely furious. To think somebody like that could do what they did and then think it’s great they can sue the prison and win taxpayers’ money left me spitting feathers.

‘How the hell can he get away with this when he owes all this money to me when I can’t get a bean?

‘When a prisoner is awarded large sums of money like this, it should trigger an automatic search for what they potentially owe their victims.

‘I was awarded this money through a court of law and they should have settled his outstanding judgements before he saw a penny. He shouldn’t be allowed to just keep the money.’

A tribunal found the victim was sexually harassed while working for Bruton who owned Amo Hair and Beauty in East Sheen, London, in 2010.

Over a three month period she says she performed four massages on him while he was fully naked but when she refused on the fourth occasion to continue unless he covered up he flew into a rage and accused her of discriminating against him because he is a naturist. A few weeks later she was sacked.

An employment tribunal in 2011 found she had been sexually harassed and awarded her almost £45,000 plus interest which she says would now amount to £60,000 or more.

It is understood Bruton is fighting the claim on the basis that too much time has passed.

A scheduled hearing earlier this month to decide whether it is still valid was cancelled at the last minute, leaving her in limbo while she waits for a new date to see if she can pursue him.

Despite the original judgement in her favour she says she has approached a series of solicitors who all demanded fees up front, forcing her to borrow £2,000 from her retired father.

She added: ‘I had almost given up hope of ever seeing the money. Every time I got somewhere another brick wall would hit me square in the face. If it wasn’t for my 73-year-old dad encouraging me and funding my legal fees I probably would’ve given up.

His victim said: ‘I was awarded this money through a court of law and they should have settled his outstanding judgements before he saw a penny’

Bruton’s car smashed through his ex-partner’s bay window before coming to a halt in her front room, causing £62,000-worth of damage

The scene of the crash for which Bruton was jailed in 2011 – he spent six days in a coma

‘I hope I get the money back. It would set up my kids’ future and my grandkids’ future but most of all I want the guy to pay for what he has done.’

Bruton was awarded the damages – which includes legal aid – at the High Court in April 2017 after His Honour Judge McKenna ruled that officers at three different prisons – HMP Swaleside, HMP Coldingley and HMP Onley – had opened legally privileged letters addressed to him.

The judge ruled that there had been ’34 breaches’ of the confidential mail regime – under rule 39 of the Prison Rules, which sets out that legal correspondence is subject to confidential handling arrangements – between April 2014 and February 2017.

The judge also found that Mr Bruton’s privacy rights under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been infringed.

Writing from his cell at HMP Onley in Northamptonshire in prisoners’ magazine Inside Time, the 54-year-old said he had been inundated with requests for advice by other inmates who heard of his compensation win.

He wrote: ‘I have had a lot of correspondence since winning a judicial review for the prison tampering with my mail and opening legal correspondence illegally.

‘A lot of people want to know how they can bring their own claims. Therefore, here is a bit of guidance:

‘The claim I brought against HMP Swaleside and the Prison Service cost the MoJ £73,806.

‘If all prisoners brought their own claims for mail tampering it is highly likely that the MoJ and Prison Service would train their staff to stop acting unlawfully and wasting money from the public purse defending the indefensible.’

Bruton, of Wembley, north west London, was caged indefinitely in October 2011 after a trial at Inner London Crown Court.

The court heard how he had drunk a bottle of antifreeze before driving his car at around 80mph into the Berkshire home of his ex partner Tara Lavery in February 2011.

The court heard how he suspected his ex-partner, who he met in January 2010, of beginning a new relationship and sent her a text reading ‘I will be waiting for you in hell…you could have avoided this if you answered me’ just before smashing his car through her house.

His car smashed through his ex-partner’s bay window before coming to a halt in her front room, causing £62,000-worth of damage.

Bruton was in a coma for six days after smashing his car into Miss Lavery’s living room, but recovered and was jailed.

Judge Lindsay Burn told Bruton in 2011: ‘You deliberately drove into her house, knowing that she was inside and you intended to do so in a way that endangered life.

‘It is merely by chance that no more damage was done to the occupants of the house and that their injuries were not more serious or in fact fatal.’

Government sources disputed Bruton’s £74,000 figure saying this was the total cost of the claim including both sides’ legal fees and the award itself was far lower than claimed.

They further pointed out that a strategy introduced the year after his award, in 2018, means any damages awarded to prisoners are offset against money owed to victims, CPS costs, fines and other costs.

A Prison Service Spokesperson said: ‘We successfully defend two-thirds of cases brought by prisoners and changed the rules so that any debts to victims and the courts are paid before the offender sees a penny.’

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