Rape victims’ cash ban due to ‘minor’ offences

RAPE victims have seen their compensation trimmed by thousands of pounds – because of unrelated convictions for not having a train ticket and failing to get their children to school.

In the past year 86 victims of sexual abuse and rape saw their Government compensation payments slashed by a total of £180,000 because of their old criminal records.

Campaigners say the unfair system makes those people feel like second-class victims.

Rape payments range from £11,000 to £27,000 while sexual abuse compensation can start from as low as £1,000 for a minor assault.

But the rules on previous convictions allow bureaucrats to trim thousands from the awards.

The biggest reduction last year saw a compensation cheque for a rape attack docked by £9,160 because the victim had been convicted of a string of crimes including dangerous dog offences, harassment, assault and drugs crimes.

One rape victim saw their payout reduced by £2,200 because they had been convicted of travelling on a train without a ticket.

Another woman found officials had withheld £2,200 of compensation because she had a conviction for failing to get her children to school.

The administrators also used the regulations to trim the payouts made to people who had suffered sexual abuse.

One victim who had an old conviction for assaulting a police officer found £7,699 taken off their award while somebody who failed to stop after a road traffic accident lost £300 from their payout.

Another example was a mother who failed to get her children to school who lost £4,400 from her sexual abuse compensation cheque.

Women who were due compensation for rape attacks but had previously been convicted of drink-driving saw anything from £1,100 to £3,300 taken off their payouts.

Victims who had historic offences of possessing drugs had their compensation cheques reduced from between £800 and £3,300. One person convicted of making nuisance telephone calls saw £3,360 trimmed off their payout.

Details from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority reveal that 280 people had their payouts reduced in the last five years because of criminal convictions.

A spokesman for Rape Crisis England and Wales, said: “It’s completely unfair and unacceptable that victims and survivors of crimes as serious and traumatic as rape and sexual abuse should be denied the compensation and acknowledgement they want and deserve over unrelated, often minor offences.

“We have been calling for an overhaul for some time, because of this.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Our compensation scheme is one of the most generous of its kind in the world with over £130million paid to victims last year.”

‘It is completely unfair and unacceptable’