TC/1825

Bomb victims receive over £20m in compensation

VICTIMS of the Omagh bomb atrocity have received more than £20 million in compensation, it was revealed last week.
Secretary of State Peter Hain, in a written reply to East Belfast MP Peter Robinson, said the Compensation Agency had fully resolved 826 of 852 criminal injury claims.
He added that of the 220 criminal damage claims, 214 had been resolved with around £7.5 million paid in compensation.
The Real IRA car bomb attack on August 15, 1998, claimed the lives of 29 people, including a woman pregnant with unborn twins.
However, despite the substantial amount already paid out, one victim, Kevin Skelton, said the government had not treated the survivors well.
Mr Skelton lost his wife Philomena, and his daughters, Shauna, Tracey and Paula suffered physical and emotional injuries.
Speaking to a daily newspaper last week, he said: "Money will not replace the people who were lost and it will not repair the scars and suffering of those who survived. We have been very, very badly treated. The families were quite entitled to be treated with dignity and compassion and they have not been."
During the fight for compensation he said survivors such as Shauna had been treated like 'pieces of meat' while their injuries were examined and discussed.
In other cases, he said those offered compensation had been warned to accept or risk being awarded a lesser amount in the courts.
"It was pure intimidation and people were afraid. They were prepared to settle because they had been through too much hassle," he said.