Victim’s injuries ‘not bad enough’ to be given compensation
Mum attacked at home after murderer raped daughter
APENSIONER strangled by a man who had just raped and murdered her daughter has been refused compensation after being told her injuries were not severe enough.
Margaret Skidmore, 81, was punched into submission by Leroy Campbell, before he wrapped a vacuum cleaner cord around her neck, leaving her unconscious.
He had earlier raped and murdered her daughter Lisa, 37, whose body was lying in a bedroom upstairs.
Campbell then set fire to the family home in Bilston and turned on a gas hob downstairs in a bid to destroy evidence.
Community nurse, Lisa, who worked at Bilston Health Centre, had been off sick from work on November 24, 2016 when Campbell climbed a stolen stepladder to the first-floor bedroom of her home in Mill Croft. He then raped her and strangled her to death.
But her elderly mother has been ruled undeserving of compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), the body responsible for awarding taxpayer’s money to victims injured as a result of violent crime.
This is despite the government run National Probation Service (NPS) conceding that there were serious failures in Campbell’s supervision.
And the decision comes after it was revealed that a serial child killer, Levi Bellfield, claimed to have received nearly £6,000 in compensation for sustaining a swollen lip in a prison fight.
Ian Austin, Labour MP for Dudley North, called on the government to review its Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
He said: “The system clearly needs to be looked at properly and I’ll be demanding ministers explain what’s happened and what they’re going to do to prevent it happening again.
“Ordinary, decent people who go out to work and pay their taxes will be absolutely furious that their money gets handed out to someone like Bellfield, but a victim of a crime like this doesn’t get a penny.”
Believing elderly Mrs Skidmore to be dead following his assault, Campbell set fire to the house and fled. Neighbours rescued the pensioner and she was taken to hospital where doctors told her she had a fractured jaw and cheekbone as well as extensive bruising.
In a letter to the family, the CICA disputes whether Mrs Skidmore’s jaw had been broken and says it does not consider her fractured cheek bone to be ‘a continuing significant disability’.
It adds: “The widespread bruising to your head, black eyes, bloody nose, bloodshot left eye, swelling over your cheek, tenderness around your jaw and bruising and cuts to your neck are not listed in Annex E. [“We are] therefore unable to make an award for these injuries as they are not qualifying injuries.”
Mrs Skidmore said: “It’s not about the money, it’s the principle. It adds insult to injury because right from the very start my family has had no rights in this case.”
Campbell was handed a life sentence last May after pleading guilty to the rape and murder of Lisa Skidmore, the attempted murder of her mother and arson with intent to endanger life.
The Skidmore family has set up a fund in Lisa’s memory to help send children affected by murder on holiday this summer.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This was an appalling crime. We have apologised to the family for the failings in this tragic case, and our thoughts remain with them.
“NPS Midlands is working with the police to take decisive action on the recommendations made in the reviews, including staff undergoing additional specialist training to help prevent any repeat.”