JUSTICE AT LAST

‘SAME ROOF’ SEX ABUSE PAYOUT BAN TO BE AXED

CHILD sex abuse victims were given a lift last night with the end in sight of a law barring their payouts.

Justice Secretary David Gauke said he will axe the “same roof” rule, which banned compensation for kids abused by their families before 1979.

It was introduced to stop payouts falling into the hands of attackers in the same house.

The rule was changed in 1979 but was not retrospective, leaving hundreds outraged.

The Government has decided not to oppose an Appeal Court victory for a woman sexually abused by her stepfather before 1979. She was denied a payout but another victim of her stepfather’s got compensation.

Last night Ursula Martin, 54, who was denied compensation for being raped by her brother at 11, was “over the moon” at Mr Gauke’s announcement.

Ursula started a Facebook support page for 100 fellow victims and could now receive up to £27,000. She said: “This will change everything for me. I’ll use this compensation to pay for mental health support. “I have waited a year for cognitive behavioural therapy but I was too suicidal to leave home so I was discharged.” Alistair Smith, of Middlesbrough law firm Watson Woodhouse, said his client’s Appeal Court victory has sparked the law change. But it was too late for hundreds who applied for compensation and had died. He added: “Without the appeal case they would have just left it and hoped EVERYBODY would have died.”