Appeal for murdered PC hits £700k but website still wants its 5% fee
FUNDRAISING website JustGiving refused to back down last night in a row over it pocketing tens of thousands of pounds from a fund set up for the family of murdered PC Keith Palmer.
The public have given more than £702,000 to the fund for PC Palmer’s 34-year-old widow Michelle and their fiveyear-old daughter Amy.
But the site’s owners insist on retaining their standard five per cent administration fee . It has donated £10,000, but even after that, the site will still net £25,000.
Last night, Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which set up the fundraising page, said: ‘Do I like it? No I don’t. Would I want every penny paid into that fund to go PC Palmer’s family? Certainly I would.’
Meanwhile, concerns have arisen that fraudsters are preying on public sympathy by setting up bogus donation pages. One page, set up for the family of one of the three pedestrians killed, teacher Aysha Frade, 43, was closed down after almost £9,000 had been raised amid fears it was a con.