Sri Lanka:A man has been released from prison in Sri Lanka after being held on remand for 50 years, the BBC has reported.
DP James was 30 when he was arrested for stabbing and wounding his father and sent to jail. He is now 80. He was moved to a psychiatric hospital shortly after entering prison in 1957 and returned to jail in the mid-1980s, where he seems to have been forgotten.
The lawyer who organised Mr James's defence in court, Darma Veejaya Seneveratna, says his client did not complain because he was from a village and ignorant of the law.
He might well have ended his days in prison, but in December he was taken to hospital for medical treatment.
Prison officers who went to collect him after his recovery checked his documents and realised the error.
Mr James has been released on bail with the court's apologies. A claim for compensation is now being considered, Mr James's legal representatives say.