Time to pay....

[Styles]

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Killers-will-be-made-to.5003367.jp

 

KILLERS could be forced to foot the bill for their victims' funerals under new laws designed to make offenders pay for their crimes.

The Scottish Government announced measures yesterday that would allow courts to order offenders to compensate relatives for bereavement expenses.

 

The provision could apply to any unlawful death, ranging from murder to people killed by drunk or speeding drivers.

 

While legal experts and victim support groups welcomed the proposal, road-death campaigners voiced concerns that some grieving families might not wish to accept "tainted" money from their loved ones' killers. Cynthia Barlow, a spokeswoman for the RoadPeace charity, which helps people deal with driving-related deaths, said: "The first priority of bereaved families is not compensation. They are much more interested in remedial action, making sure the incident does not happen to someone else if it could have been prevented.

 

"My daughter died in an accident involving a concrete mixer when she was 26 and I would not have wanted any compensation from her killer to pay for her funeral. It is hard enough organising a funeral without worrying about whether the driver is going to pay for it."

 

KENNY MacAskill, the justice secretary, outlined the measures, which will be in the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill that goes before the Scottish Parliament next month.

 

He told a victim support conference in Glasgow yesterday: "We aim to give criminal courts more flexibility to award compensation against an offender, and update the remit of compensation orders so they can reflect changes in the means of the offender, and be used to pay funeral and bereavement expenses to the relatives of a deceased victim. If supported by parliament, these important changes will help more victims and their families."

 

Ian Simpson, QC, a former sheriff and temporary judge, described the proposals as perfectly sensible.

 

He said: "I do not think this would cause additional emotional distress because the compensation order would be made long after the funeral had happened – the burial will happen in the normal way and be paid for in the normal way. Any court- ordered compensation would not happen until a long time after that, when the offender is convicted and sentenced.

 

"And if the bereaved felt that the money would in some way be tainted, then they could always give it away to a charity."

 

However, Bill Aitken, the Scottish Conservatives' justice spokesman, raised fears that some killers might not have enough cash to pay for a funeral, which research suggests now costs an average of just over £2,500. He said: "This idea is fine in theory, but in practice many killers simply won't have any assets. Far better that, in some cases, life should mean life. That would be real justice delivered."

 

DAVID Sinclair, a spokesman for Victim Support Scotland, said the group had been pushing for the justice system to take a more victim-based approach for several years.

 

Asked about the latest proposal, he said: "The court would have to decide on whether the perpetrator pays for the bereaved person's legal and funeral costs. The court would have the full facts presented to it, such as whether the offender has the funds to offer compensation. If the view is that, in addition to all their emotional distress, the victims' relatives have also suffered financial loss and the court is aware of their financial circumstances, the court will then be able to consider the whole question of compensation.

 

"We are very interested in seeing the details of this legislation once it is published. It's very clear that Kenny MacAskill and the Scottish Government have been listening to what Victim Support Scotland have been saying for a long time about putting the victim at the heart of the criminal justice system."

 

The move is one of several measures in the bill intended to support victims of crime.

 

ALAN McCreadie, of the Law Society of Scotland, said: "Getting offenders to pay compensation directly to relatives of their victims would require a change in the law. As the Criminal Procedures Scotland Act 1995 stands, you cannot impose compensation when there is loss suffered in consequence of the death of another person."

 

Richard Baker, Labour's justice spokesman, said: "We welcome any moves which benefit victims. While I imagine there will be cases where the family of somebody who has been murdered might not see it as appropriate for the killer to pay for the funeral, we would call for a special victims' commissioner to be appointed who would have overarching responsibility for guiding bereaved people through a maze of legal issues and rights at what will be a difficult time for them."

 

IN NUMBERS

 

£2,257

the average cost of a cremation in Scotland

 

£2,107

typical cost for administration of estate (probate)

 

£662

the cost of a coffin lair in Edinburgh. In Shetland, it is £64

 

2.1

per 100,000 people were murdered in Scotland in 2005-6 – the joint highest and fastest-rising rate in western Europe

 

281

deaths occurred on Scotland's roads in 2007

 

710

drunk-driving accidents took place in Scotland in 2004

 

£2,517

the cost of the average funeral in Scotland

 

'My son was killed by a drink-driver who served 13 months. Making these people pay is a good idea'

 

SINCE her son Steven was killed by a drunk driver, Carole Whittingham has devoted her life to helping the families of those who lose their lives on the road.

 

Yesterday, she applauded the Scottish justice secretary's proposals to make those who cause unlawful deaths contribute to the funeral expenses of their victims.

 

She said: "I think it is a great idea. I can't speak for the families of victims of other sorts of crime, but I certainly think drivers who kill should be held more responsible than they are.

 

"My son was killed by a drunk who was driving a stolen car and we were left to deal with the effects of the loss within our family. The perpetrator just served a 13-month sentence and he certainly wasn't held accountable."

 

In her work for the Campaign Against Drunk Driving and Support and Care After Road Death, Mrs Whittingham often comes into contact with families who are struggling to deal with funeral expenses, as well as coping with their grief.

 

"We are supporting a family at the moment whose daughter was killed, not by a drunk driver, but who was forced off the road by a driver who was showing off.

 

"She was 19 years old and her family had to plan the kind of funeral they thought she would have liked. But they were stumped as to how to come up with the cash.

 

"The family had to go to relatives and friends to ask for the deposit for the funeral because the funeral director demanded the money up front. As the funeral was going to be above the normal cost they had to run around and ask for £500."

 

In some circumstances families who lose a loved one to someone driving an uninsured vehicle can make a claim for compensation from the Motor Insurers' Bureau. But Mrs Whittingham believes making the perpetrators financially responsible for their actions would be a step in the right direction. "I think it is a good idea and it will act as a deterrent," she said.

 

The campaigner, who lives in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, applauded Mr MacAskill's initiative, saying: "I don't know why it is, but it seems that the Scottish Government takes the lead on these sorts of things.

 

"I think it will have to depend on the circumstances in each individual case. Each would have to be taken on its merits. How it would work overall I am not sure."

 

Mrs Whittingham said funeral expenses could be a huge help to families who were already experiencing grief over the loss of a loved one.

 

She said: "You are talking about a cost of £2,000 for even the most basic funeral."

 

She said families would be relieved to think financial help was on the way – even if the money would not be awarded immediately.

 

"A lot of funeral directors are very understanding about payments, but something like this would mean that the family would not have to worry about getting into extra debt," she said.

 

Steven Whittingham, 27, died in 1992 after his car was hit by a stolen car doing 80 mph in a 30mph zone.

[JAStewart]

I'm concerned that because they are making someone else pay for it, they will go for the most lavish, expensive thing possible - which isn't right because they'd be thinking more about the killer than their deceased friend/relative/etc