Gesbeen Mohammad

How we did it: tracking overpayments to prisoners in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Yesterday we reported on how prisoners in Northern Ireland were being paid  £1.94 million in benefits they were not entitled to. In this post Gesbeen Mohammad explains the background to the story. This story began when Help Me Investigate was approached by an individual who was confused by the contradiction between replies to two different Freedom of Information (FOI) requests: This request by […]

Prisoners overpaid £2m in benefits in Northern Ireland

Prisoners in Northern Ireland have been paid £1.94 million in benefits over the last six years, despite not being entitled to them, according to data obtained by Help Me Investigate. And “overpayments” to prisoners – the official term for paying benefits to those in prison – have increased by more than half in the last year for which figures were […]

The £6.5m cost of policing the Olympic Torch – get the data

Policing the Olympic torch procession cost taxpayers almost £6.5m nationally, according to a series of Freedom of Information requests by Gesbeen Mohammad. The spending includes the costs incurred to local police authorities throughout the UK for the 56 days the … Continue reading