£11,000 for parents of murdered Sarah is 'derisory'

A victim support group has described a reported offer of £11,000 compensation to the parents of the murdered child Sarah Payne as "derisory".

The Victims of Crime Trust (VOCT) said the pay-out of £5,500 for each of Sarah's parents, which comes just days after the first anniversary of her death, showed "how little someone's life is worth". Sara and Michael Payne said they were "appalled" by the offer from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).

Sarah was seven years old when she was abducted near her grandparents' home in East Preston, West Sussex, in July last year. Her body was dumped on land near an agricultural college at Pulborough and found three weeks later.

Mrs Payne said yesterday: "The world seems to have its values upside down. We are appalled at what we have been offered. It is a sick joke." Yet, under current legislation, the pay-out is the maximum that can be awarded for the loss of a child through crime.

Norman Brennan, director of the VOCT and a former police officer, said the only way the Paynes could fight the award was to launch a campaign for more generous payments with other parents who had lost a child. He said: "The CICA is very cold and calculated. This pay-out goes to show how little someone's life is worth.

"In civil law people have won hundreds of thousands of pounds. Last year someone was awarded £62,000 for being called an 'Irish prat'. The only thing the Paynes can do is to join up with other families and campaign for a change in the legislation," he said.

"But it is not really about the money, it is more about the state accepting the loss and showing some sort of respect for the family of someone who has been murdered. This pay-out would just about cover the funeral expenses."

The Paynes can appeal against the decision but they would have to prove their suffering before medical experts.