JUDGE THROWS OUT BOMB FAMILY'S CLAIM FOR SCHOOL FEES
Judge throws out bomb families claim for school fees
By ROSETTA DONNELLY
Mother vows to take case to Europe
THE BARKER family from Buncrana, whose son was killed in the Omagh bomb, has said they are bitterly disappointed, though not
surprised, at Monday's court ruling that they are not entitled to claim for schools fees paid out for their son.
The case had been taken against the Compensation Agency by James Victor Barker and was heard on 25th September at Omagh County Court.
Mr Barker, who is a solicitor himself, made the application on the grounds that he had paid out tuition fees for his son which had become wasted expenses when his son was murdered.
Victor Barker said it was 'reasonable and proper' that this sum be paid out given when one compared the treatment of victims and offenders in Northern Ireland.
Judge Foot stated that while Mr Barker's claim was ingenious, it was flawed.
"The words in Article 3 of the Criminal Injuries (Compensation) (NI) Order, 1988, are clear that school fees already paid are not recoverable under the present legislation," he said.
The judge went on: "Nor do I do I consider it 'reasonable and proper' that they should be paid. To decide so might involve the Courts in the unedifying situation of saying that the life of a child who had been attending a state school was worth less than a child who had been privately educated."
Referring back to the remarks made by the Compensation Agency's barrister during the case, that it would open the floodgates to similar claims, Judge Foot continued: "This did not impress me. Originality is not a valid argument and if the law requires a flood, so be it," he said.
Victor Barker was not in Court for the case, but his wife Donna-Marie was present and she was supported by members of the Omagh Support group for the one minute verdict.
Speaking afterwards, Mrs Baker pledged to fight on and take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary.
She said: "In drawing this issue to the attention of the court, we were not seeking to place a monetary value on our son's life, nor to argue that the life of any one person is more valuable than another as the judgment would seem to imply.
"We are simply asking to be paid back expenses which we had incurred," she said.
Mrs Baker said her husband had met with the Prime Minister at Downing Street and was vowing to fight on to highlight the disparity in the treatment of victims of terrorist crime and the perpetrators.
"The time has come for the government to start to treat the victims of such crimes in a more humane manner than it treats the perpetrators and to acknowledge the suffering caused to people such as ourselves by these acts of senseless inhumanity".
Mrs Baker went on to make a passionate plea to those who have information on the bombers to come forward with it.
"If anyone has information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of these murderers of innocent children, I urge them to go to the RUC or the GARDA - everyone in the island of Ireland who has information and who does not come forward must surely bear a moral responsibility for shielding these crimimals - they should be in prison now so they are not free to commit any further barbaric deeds - like the one which shook this town to its core on the 15th August, 1998."
By ROSETTA DONNELLY
Mother vows to take case to Europe
THE BARKER family from Buncrana, whose son was killed in the Omagh bomb, has said they are bitterly disappointed, though not
surprised, at Monday's court ruling that they are not entitled to claim for schools fees paid out for their son.
The case had been taken against the Compensation Agency by James Victor Barker and was heard on 25th September at Omagh County Court.
Mr Barker, who is a solicitor himself, made the application on the grounds that he had paid out tuition fees for his son which had become wasted expenses when his son was murdered.
Victor Barker said it was 'reasonable and proper' that this sum be paid out given when one compared the treatment of victims and offenders in Northern Ireland.
Judge Foot stated that while Mr Barker's claim was ingenious, it was flawed.
"The words in Article 3 of the Criminal Injuries (Compensation) (NI) Order, 1988, are clear that school fees already paid are not recoverable under the present legislation," he said.
The judge went on: "Nor do I do I consider it 'reasonable and proper' that they should be paid. To decide so might involve the Courts in the unedifying situation of saying that the life of a child who had been attending a state school was worth less than a child who had been privately educated."
Referring back to the remarks made by the Compensation Agency's barrister during the case, that it would open the floodgates to similar claims, Judge Foot continued: "This did not impress me. Originality is not a valid argument and if the law requires a flood, so be it," he said.
Victor Barker was not in Court for the case, but his wife Donna-Marie was present and she was supported by members of the Omagh Support group for the one minute verdict.
Speaking afterwards, Mrs Baker pledged to fight on and take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary.
She said: "In drawing this issue to the attention of the court, we were not seeking to place a monetary value on our son's life, nor to argue that the life of any one person is more valuable than another as the judgment would seem to imply.
"We are simply asking to be paid back expenses which we had incurred," she said.
Mrs Baker said her husband had met with the Prime Minister at Downing Street and was vowing to fight on to highlight the disparity in the treatment of victims of terrorist crime and the perpetrators.
"The time has come for the government to start to treat the victims of such crimes in a more humane manner than it treats the perpetrators and to acknowledge the suffering caused to people such as ourselves by these acts of senseless inhumanity".
Mrs Baker went on to make a passionate plea to those who have information on the bombers to come forward with it.
"If anyone has information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of these murderers of innocent children, I urge them to go to the RUC or the GARDA - everyone in the island of Ireland who has information and who does not come forward must surely bear a moral responsibility for shielding these crimimals - they should be in prison now so they are not free to commit any further barbaric deeds - like the one which shook this town to its core on the 15th August, 1998."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0599
Published Date: 18-Nov-99
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