World's longest death row prisoner given 3p for every minute behind bars after wrongful conviction

The world's longest-serving prisoner on death row has been awarded an astonishing amount of money after being found not guilty.

Unlike capital punishment in film and TV, being on death row in real life involves a lot of waiting around, as inmates issue a series of appeals before finally taking their last breath.

And for good reason too, as there have been numerous cases of innocent people finding themselves wrongly condemned over the years and let's face it, it's a lot easier to free someone from prison than it is to un-kill them.

One such person in this position is Japanese man Iwao Hakamada, from Shizuoka, central Japan, who spent 46 years behind bars after receiving a death sentence for the murders of his boss, the man's wife and their two children in 1966.

(STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images)

The former boxer repeatedly denied the accusations and convinced of his innocence, Hakamada's sisters led a tireless campaign to see the now 89-year-old granted a retrial in 2014, where he was released from prison to serve his sentence at home due to his old age and frail health.

Hakamada was subsequently acquitted last year after a DNA test revealed that bloodstained clothing used to convict him had been placed at the scene after the attacks took place.

The defence team also argued that investigators had carried out 'inhumane interrogations' in order to get a confession from the former boxer.

Hakamada is the fifth Japanese man on death row to receive a retrial, with all of the other cases resulting in the death penalty being overturned.

"Everyone, really, really thank you," his sister Hideko Hakamada told supporters in 2014 after his release was confirmed (via The Guardian). "I want to see him as soon as I can and tell him: 'You really persevered.'"

Following his acquittal, he has now received monetary compensation of 217 million yen (£1.1 million) for the 47 years and seven months he spent behind bars, according to AFP.

This works out at around 3p for every minute he spent on death row.

Japan is one of 53 nations which still retains the death penalty (Getty Stock Images)

However, Hakamada's legal team are arguing that a financial payout isn't enough to compensate the trauma that spending decades on death row had on his mental wellbeing.

According to NHK, Hakamada's defence lawyer Ogawa Hideyo told the media that the state had made a mistake which no 'amount of money could compensate for'.

Japan is one of 53 countries which still retain the death penalty, with the last execution being carried out in 2022.

The East Asian nation's use of capital punishment is considered controversial, with the condemned only learning there execution will be carried out on the day of — a practice which has been condemned by human rights organisations.