Great Britain: Sue Osama Bin Laden (Gov't advice given to injured terror victims)

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | March 12, 2006 | DAVID WOODING

[Stoat]

EXCLUSIVE

Sue Osama Bin Laden

Terror chief ... Bin Laden
 

By DAVID WOODING

Whitehall Editor

 BRITISH tourists maimed in terrorist attacks abroad have been refused Government compensation — and advised to sue OSAMA BIN LADEN.

 

Scores of victims left penniless and unable to work have had their claims turned down by ministers because they were injured overseas.

Trevor Lakin, 56, whose son died in an Egyptian suicide blast, was officially told to seek damages from “the perpetrator”.

He said last night: “It beggars belief. How do you sue a suicide bomber?”

The grieving dad was appalled by ministers’ response when he begged for help to bury tragic Jeremy.

An official Government letter advised him to “look for compensation to the perpetrator”.


 

Victim ... Jeremy Lakin, dad Trevor
 

 

But Trevor, 56, said it was impossible to sue dead bombers — or even FIND terror chiefs like Osama Bin Laden, holed out in mountain caves.

He is demanding a rule change so victims of violence abroad can claim criminal injuries compensation — like that paid to London’s 7/7 victims.

Trevor, who ran up massive bills flying out to identify and bring home Jeremy’s body, said: “It’s just stupid. You can’t just go off and sue suicide bombers can you?

“I certainly wouldn’t want to approach the terrorists — and I think they’re dead anyway.”

Company director Trevor’s son, 28, was on holiday with girlfriend Annalie Vickers when three bombs hit the Egyptian resort. Annalie was also among 11 Britons killed last July.

Trevor, of Bourne, Lincs, wrote to the PM after his son’s insurers refused to cover loss of life, property or expenses incurred by the family. He later saw a letter from anti-fraud minister James Plaskitt.

 

Snubbed ... Stephen Stables was hurt in
Turkish blast that killed fiancée Helyn
 

It read: “British nationals or residents injured abroad should look for compensation to the perpetrator, to whatever insurance arrangements they have made, or to the state where the criminal injury occurred.” 

Trevor said: “I don’t believe that whoever wrote that understood what they were writing.

“People have been financially and emotionally destroyed — and their anguish has been increased by people just walking away from us.”

Forty-six Brits have been killed and scores more injured in worldwide terror outrages since the 9/11 attacks of 2001.

They include 28 who died in car bombings in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002 and Helyn Bennett, 21, killed in a bus blast in Kusadasi, Turkey, last July. Her family and fiancé Stephen Stables were also refused compensation.

Helyn’s uncle Mickey Aspinall, 50, spent two weeks on a life-support machine with a fractured skull and other injuries. The family, from Spennymoor, Co Durham, have made 200 hospital visits and paid nearly £2,000 in medical expenses.

 

Letter ... Mr Plaskitt
 

They can’t work and must rely on help from relatives, friends and charity. Porter Stephen, 23, was left in a wheelchair after the blast. 

The family asked for help, but were told to apply for benefits. Mickey said: “We’re getting short on money now. There is a mortgage to pay.” Some insurance firms have made goodwill payments to victims, but many have exclusion clauses for acts of terror.

Experts last night urged ministers to take pity on British victims — whose plight is exposed on new TV series Real Story which starts on BBC1 at 7pm tonight.

Top human rights lawyer Mark Stephens branded the Government’s decision “ludicrous and insensitive”.

He said: “This is scandalous. If you suffer injury through no fault of your own you should get compensation. It really should not matter what the injury is or whether it was in the jurisdiction or not.

“If you’re subjected to a terrorist attack, you’re the victim of a crime.

“To suggest individuals should be bringing proceedings against Bin Laden beggars belief. It would not be difficult or expensive to set up an appropriate scheme.”

However Home Office minister Fiona McTaggart defended the Government’s position.

She told Real Story host Fiona Bruce: “Let’s be very clear, the person who is responsible for this dreadful act is the criminal.”

[Stoat]

The Sun Online - Sun Says It's an atrocity

It's an atrocity

BRITONS maimed by terrorists abroad are being shamefully abandoned by the Government.

They don’t see a penny in compensation, unlike victims on home soil.

And a Government minister rubs salt in their wounds with idiotic advice that they should sue al-Qaeda.

Many of these Brits are so badly wounded they will never work again. Through no fault of their own they face hardship for life.

It’s not the Government’s fault either — but that doesn’t mean it can wash its hands of the matter.

Ministers must consider extending the remit of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to include Britons targeted by terror abroad.

The numbers are relatively small. It won’t break the bank.

Failing that, the Government can at least put pressure on the countries where the attacks happened to shell out for our victims.

It’s not good enough for Ministers simply to shrug their shoulders.

[peyton randolph]

Solution: Sell all of the U.K. mosques and use the proceeds to compensate the victims of TROP.

[ncountylee]

Don't miss page three.

[Lauren BaRecall]

Home Office minister Fiona McTaggart to terrorism victim: "You should put some ice on that."

[Stoat]

Solution: Sell all of the U.K. mosques and use the proceeds to compensate the victims of TROP.

Although your solution certainly has it's appeal, I am curious as to the differences in expectation from Britons versus us Yanks.  For example, when I go across the pond I can take out traveler's insurance, although I don't recall right off the top of my head whether that would specifically cover terror attacks.  I believe that my regular health insurance would cover such an event provided it had international coverage.  I wouldn't even think of expecting compensation from the Government, but apparently that's the normal thing in Great Britain, as terror victims who are injured while within the UK are apparently compensated for such things, according to the article.

If nothing else, this sounds like a great opportunity for an insurance company to offer policies to cover such events if it won't be covered by the Government.

[Stoat]

Don't miss page three.

shhh!  Don't let the Moderators hear you!  They will pull this thread for "linking to a porn site"   :-)

[Stoat]

Home Office minister Fiona McTaggart to terrorism victim: "You should put some ice on that."

She's not exactly conveying a shining example of diplomacy, is she?   :-)

[ncountylee]

Spelled out three...gets passed them every time.

[Stoat]

Spelled out three...gets passed them every time.

ROTFLMAO!

[peyton randolph]

sounds like a great opportunity for an insurance company to offer policies to cover such events if it won't be covered by the Government.

---

 Sounds like something right up G. Gordon Liddy's alley. He's already got a mercenary group that will extract you for a sum anywhere in the world if kidnapped. Heard good things about it.
 

[Lauren BaRecall]

There's no such thing as being just a little cold blooded.

When she's old and in a nursing home, and her false teeth fall out, and the man cleaning the floor with the buffing machine runs over them, she's going to look to the heavens and cry out, "WHY ME???".

Well, this is "why her."

And that goes for the rest of the government ministers, too.

People blessed with good health don't have a clue that their self sufficiency can go poof in a heartbeat. Too easily can the shoe be on the other foot.

[Stoat]

sounds like a great opportunity for an insurance company to offer policies to cover such events if it won't be covered by the Government.

---

 Sounds like something right up G. Gordon Liddy's alley. He's already got a mercenary group that will extract you for a sum anywhere in the world if kidnapped. Heard good things about it.

I've been a fan of his ever since I read The Monkey Handlers where he told about how he ate a rat.  I'm assuming that what you refer to is detailed in this book?

 

It looks like it will be a great read, with no wimpiness between the covers  :-)

sounds like a great opportunity for an insurance company to offer policies to cover such events if it won't be covered by the Government.

---

 Sounds like something right up G. Gordon Liddy's alley. He's already got a mercenary group that will extract you for a sum anywhere in the world if kidnapped. Heard good things about it.

[ChEng]

How would you reconcile this to what you and I paid to the families of 9/11 casualties? Personally, I'd like to see the same generosity given to the families of our fallen warriors, not only those that fall in combat, but in training and other missions...

[rawcatslyentist]

>"Solution: Sell all of the U.K. mosques and use the proceeds to compensate the victims of TROP."

Start off by suing publishers of their instruction manual of DEATH!

Sura 9:5 of satans “Koranus,” “Slay the idolaters muslimes wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush.”

Aap aap ahh dap dap!!!!!
It's a religion of peace
It's a religion of peace

It aint Slim W, but this'll gitr done!
Kill A Commie For Mommie

Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes

[Stoat]

There's no such thing as being just a little cold blooded.

When she's old and in a nursing home, and her false teeth fall out, and the man cleaning the floor with the buffing machine runs over them, she's going to look to the heavens and cry out, "WHY ME???".

Well, this is "why her."

And that goes for the rest of the government ministers, too.

People blessed with good health don't have a clue that their self sufficiency can go poof in a heartbeat. Too easily can the shoe be on the other foot.

You're absolutely right of course.  I work in the healthcare end of emergency services here in the USA and I regularly see firsthand how devastating to a person's life any sort of injury can be.  If people can't look to the Government for compensation for these events, they need to be informed of this up front and preferably by some means other than by some official with no social skills.

There's no such thing as being just a little cold blooded.

When she's old and in a nursing home, and her false teeth fall out, and the man cleaning the floor with the buffing machine runs over them, she's going to look to the heavens and cry out, "WHY ME???".

Well, this is "why her."

And that goes for the rest of the government ministers, too.

People blessed with good health don't have a clue that their self sufficiency can go poof in a heartbeat. Too easily can the shoe be on the other foot.

[Stoat]

How would you reconcile this to what you and I paid to the families of 9/11 casualties? Personally, I'd like to see the same generosity given to the families of our fallen warriors, not only those that fall in combat, but in training and other missions...
 

Sounds good, particularly since terror victims in the UK are already being compensated by the Gov't as current policy, as long as they are injured within the country. 

[peyton randolph]

I'm assuming that what you refer to is detailed in this book?

---

Haven't read the book...will have to get it. Crossed paths with him many years ago...we have mutual friends. Great man.

[Stoat]

 

I'm assuming that what you refer to is detailed in this book?

---

Haven't read the book...will have to get it. Crossed paths with him many years ago...we have mutual friends. Great man.

Sounds like it...and a great person to get an occasional Christmas card from, if you're so lucky   :-)