12th February 2026
On Tuesday, the Liberal Democrats teased a “big announcement” that turned out to be little more than a rebrand. But while Whitehall engaged in administrative theatre, a far more serious and costly story has unfolded here in Stockport — one that raises deep questions about accountability, justice, and the use of public resources.
I am talking about the case of Mr Parnell, whose repeated arrests and periods of imprisonment have not only taken a terrible personal toll, but have also carried a very real — and very avoidable — cost to the public purse.
This isn’t abstract. Each arrest, custody period, prosecution and custodial sentence carries a financial burden on taxpayers. And let’s be clear: this was not the result of violent crime or a threat to the public. It was a miscarriage of justice that could — and should — have been avoided.
The Cost of Arrest and Custody
Every time a person is arrested, there are immediate costs:
• Police time — including travel, processing, and detention paperwork.
• Custody facilities — maintaining staff and cells for every hour a person spends in detention.
Even short stays in custody can cost around £1,000 or more per incident when you add up officer hours, cell space, and related logistics. Multiple arrests quickly multiply those figures.
Court Proceedings and Legal Costs
Then come court appearances. Whether in the magistrates’ court or, in some cases, the Crown Court, the state bears the cost of:
• Prosecutors and court staff
• Judges and magistrates
• Court security
• Transcription and administration
A single Crown Court case can run into thousands or tens of thousands of pounds before a single day of imprisonment is served.
Prison: The Largest Single Expense
Once in prison, the cost per year per inmate in the UK is notoriously high, easily exceeding £50,000 a year for housing, feeding, supervising, and rehabilitating someone in custody.
Add all those up — multiple arrests, police custody stays, court appearances, potential bail hearings, and one or more periods of imprisonment — and we’re talking about tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds, spent on a man who should never have been behind bars in the first place.
And the Compensation Question
If and when Mr Parnell’s family seek compensation for wrongful arrest and imprisonment — as they very well might — that will be an additional cost to the public purse, potentially running into hundreds of thousands of pounds, depending on how the courts assess the harm done.
The Political Accountability Gap
Perhaps the most remarkable part of this saga is that three of the individuals involved in having Mr Parnell repeatedly arrested still hold public office:
- Lord Goddard — continuing to serve in public life.
- Councillor Shan Alexander — still in elected office.
- Councillor Wendy Meikle — currently in charge of Children’s Services at Stockport Council.
These are people who, at various points, played a role in decisions that led to Mr Parnell’s arrests — decisions that ultimately cost us all, in time, money, and trust in our institutions.
Time for Transparency
Stockport deserves transparency about the total cost of this case — not just in pounds and pence, but in the political accountability that should come with it. When public servants make decisions that have such profound and expensive consequences, there must be scrutiny, explanation, and, where appropriate, responsibility.
We owe that to Mr Parnell RIP. And we owe it to ourselves.
The actions they took to remove a sick, innocent, fiercely protective dad from his lovely, young daughters and they did that on behalf of this LibDem Executive Councillor paedophile.
