My life has never been the same.. £6k compo just isn’t enough
CABBIE FORCED TO RAID BANK TELLS OF ORDEAL Victim claims payout didn’t reflect trauma he still suffers
A cabbie who was forced to rob a bank at gunpoint has hit out at a compensation scheme for crime victims.
Alistair Rankin, 52, who was awarded £ 6100 in criminal injuries, claims the payout didn’t reflect the trauma he still suffers six years after the ordeal.
The dad said he continues to take medication and goes to therapy to cope.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) originally offered the taxi driver just £1000 before he challenged the decision.
Alistair said: “My life has never been the same. I take a cocktail of 14 pills before I leave the house and sleeping tablets before I go to bed.
“It’s been a nightmare and has put a strain on my family life.
“I’m still in therapy and don’t know when I will be able to put it all behind me. I’m still very angry with what happened.
“The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority offered me £ 1000 before I appealed it.
“They then came back with an offer of £ 6100 after five years, which I accepted.
“I’d had enough of fighting it so settled but I don’t think it was enough. I know someone who got £10,000 for being bitten on their shoulder while at work.
“That’s obviously distressing but small compared to what happened to me. The system just seems so unfair.”
Staff at the Bank of Scotland in Kirkcaldy, Fife, were “extremely shaken” by the raid in November 2015.
Alistair, of Cowdenbeath, was hired to pick up Andrew Patrick at an industrial estate in Lochgelly.
Patrick – who faked an Eastern European accent and hid his face using a cap, glasses and scarf – ordered Alistair to drive to the bank at gunpoint.
When they arrived, he was given two bags and told one contained a bomb.
He was told to take them into the branch and hand over a note while he was “watched”. The note told bank staff to fill the bag with cash or the bomb would detonate within a minute.
Workers quickly handed Alistair £10,000 but Patrick had fled by the time he returned to his vehicle.
Police took Alistair to a deserted golf course to detonate the bomb before realising it was fake.
The robbery sparked a three-week manhunt involving armed police, air support and dog units before gym instructor Patrick was arrested.
He was sentenced to six years and nine months at the High Court in Glasgow and was released in 2019.
Victims of crime in the UK can make a claim via CICA for what they suffered.
The body has the power to award up to £ 500,000 but most victims get just a fraction of that. Calculations are basedbd on a tariffiff system anddiinjuries j i sustained.
In 2019 former victims’ commissioner Baroness Newlove said CICA was “re-traumatising” claimants and seemed “calculated to frustrate and alienate” those it should be helping.
Seriously disabling mental injuries can lead to payouts of up to £27,000.
Alistair added: “Patrick is out and his life has gone on. He probably never even thinks about it.
“I’ve never seen him again and wouldn’t want to. He’s no real understanding of what he caused.
“Victims of crime are ignored by the system. I thought that at the time of his sentencing and I think it having gone through the compensat ion scheme.”
A CICA spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with Mr Rankin and we know that no amount of compensation can ever make up for the harm and suf fering caused by violent crime.
“Injury awards are intended to be an important gesture of public sympathy and acknowledgement of the trauma that victims have experienced.”
Victims of crime are ignored by the system