By Johnny Caldwell BBC News website

Northern Ireland has three prisons

This is in relation to cases ranging from injury by fellow inmates to food poisoning and stress.

The BBC News Website obtained the figures under the Freedom of Information Act.

A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Prison Service said: "Each claim for compensation is considered on its merit and dealt with accordingly."

He added it "aims to maintain a humane and caring environment where all persons are safe and promote and improve the health and social wellbeing of all".

A total of �1,107,830 was paid out between January 2002 and the end of last year.

Although inmates do not have direct access to the money they can instruct their solicitors to carry their wishes with regards to it.

Almost half of the sum, �501,000, relates to a medical negligence case from 2004, while compensation for injury to inmates caused by other prisoners cost the taxpayer �124,714.

In addition to claims for trips, slips and falls, compensation was also paid to prisoners for, among other things, insufficient training, unlawful searching and contraction of an unnamed disease.

Claim culture also exists in prison

There was also one incident of an inmate being bitten by a prison dog, which resulted in the individual concerned being awarded �1,000.

Interestingly, the amount of compensation paid for an unlawful search by wardens ranged from �914 to �12,785.