The compensation has been denied because the victims had an unspent conviction on their record, and campaigners say that this discriminates against people who have committed a minor crime

This is an interview with Kim Mitchell who has been working with WAR for several years and supports our petition campaign demanding the government abolish this unfair rule.

See original in Mirror here

By Emer Scully

19:44, 28 May 2022

Almost 700 victims of sex abuse have been denied compensation due to unspent convictions in five years.

And 172 others have had their money reduced under the same rule.

Campaigners say it discriminates against those who may have committed a minor crime only because they were abused in the first place.

One woman was denied compensation for sexual abuse she suffered from a teacher when she was an eight-year-old at boarding school.

Kim Mitchell, 40, from Bristol, called the rule an “absolute joke”.

She said: “They don’t take into consideration that this will have affected us our whole life. I have insecurity, trust and anger issues that were never dealt with in 30 years.

“It is a constant kick in the teeth. We shouldn’t have to fight for this. We’ve had a crime committed against us.”

Ms Mitchell was convicted in March 2017 of public disorder because she brought her Rottweiler with her to collect an overdue pay cheque from a former boss.

Later that year her former teacher was convicted and she put in a claim for compensation – which was refused because her conviction was unspent.

Her lawyer at the Centre for Women’s Justice, Debaleena Dasgupta, described the rule as “illogical”.

“It is a constant kick in the teeth. We shouldn’t have to fight for this. We’ve had a crime committed against us.”

Ms Mitchell was convicted in March 2017 of public disorder because she brought her Rottweiler with her to collect an overdue pay cheque from a former boss.

Later that year her former teacher was convicted and she put in a claim for compensation – which was refused because her conviction was unspent.

Her lawyer at the Centre for Women’s Justice, Debaleena Dasgupta, described the rule as “illogical”.

“These figures show that despite a commitment to ‘support victims to cope and recover from the impact of crime’ in the draft Victims Bill, people with unspent convictions continue to face discrimination when claiming compensation for sexual assault and other violent crimes.”

A conviction is unspent until it is removed from a person’s record after a certain period of time depending on the sentence.

A Sunday People Freedom of Information request found 678 applications for compensation for sex assaults have been refused because of unspent convictions since 2017.

And 58 bids for compensation have been denied so far this year.

The Ministry of Justice said: “Our compensation scheme is one of the most generous in the world – paying over £153million to victims and families impacted by violent crime in 2020/21.

"While the unspent conviction rule aims to reflect the harm offenders have caused to society, and the Supreme Court determined it is fair and proportionate, we will shortly launch a consultation on its future.”