No payout for 81-year-old strangled by rapist and killer

A Great-grandmother who was strangled by a man who had just raped and murdered her daughter has been refused compensation after being told her injuries were not severe enough.

The decision comes despite it being revealed recently Levi Bellfield, the serial killer, claims to have received nearly £6,000 after making a claim against the prison service for a swollen lip sustained in a prison fight in jail.

Margaret Skidmore, 81, was punched into submission by Leroy Campbell, before he wrapped a vacuum cleaner cord around her neck, rendering her unconscious. Hours earlier, Campbell, a serial sex attacker on probation, had raped and killed Mrs Skidmore’s 37-year-old daughter, Lisa, whose body was lying in a bedroom upstairs.

But the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) has ruled that Mrs Skidmore is undeserving of any payment. This is despite the government-run National Probation Service (NPS) conceding that there were serious failures in Campbell’s supervision.

Ian Austin, the Labour MP for Dudley North, called on the Government to review its criminal injuries compensation scheme. He said: “Ordinary, decent people who go out to work and pay their taxes will be furious that their money gets handed out to someone like Bellfield, but a victim of a crime like this doesn’t get a penny.”

Believing Mrs Skidmore to be dead after his assault, Campbell set fire to the house and fled. Neighbours rescued Mrs Skidmore and she was taken to hospital, where doctors told her she had a fractured jaw and cheekbone, as well as extensive bruising.

In a letter to the family, the CICA disputed whether Mrs Skidmore’s jaw had been broken and said it did not consider her fractured cheekbone to be “a continuing significant disability”.

‘The widespread bruising to your head, black eyes, bloody nose, bloodshot left eye, swelling over your cheek, tenderness around your jaw and bruising and cuts to your neck are not listed in Annex E,” it said. “[We are] therefore unable to make an award for these injuries as they are not qualifying injuries.’

Mrs Skidmore said: “It’s not about the money, it’s the principle. It adds insult to injury because from the start my family has had no rights in this case.”

The Skidmore family is raising money in Lisa’s memory to help send children affected by murder on holiday. Visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ Someonespecial/lisaskidmore1