Crime victims ‘should get payouts from court’

Victims of crime are having to wait too long for compensation under a “derisory” system, the victims’ commissioner has said.

Baroness Newlove called for a change to the way court-ordered financial awards are paid after they are imposed on convicted offenders.

She has called for compensation for people who suffer at the hands of criminals to be paid upfront rather than in instalments. Writing in her 2017-18 report, she said she wanted to see victims receive payouts in full, rather than waiting for the money to be recovered from a defendant, with the court recouping this from the offender.