Convicted criminals are winning compensation claims
They include a junkie who got cash to remove tattoos
Tribunal says they aren`t a burden on society
CRIMINALS are winning taxpayer-funded compensation meant for innocent victims of crime.
Thugs, drug dealers and thieves have won thousands of dollars when they have become victims, despite doubts about their character.
They have been awarded cash for massages, counselling - even to remove tattoos.
The Herald Sun has uncovered several cases of people with criminal pasts winning payouts, despite being refused compensation by Victoria`s Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal because of their shady histories.
They include:
A MAN who served 14 months` jail for breaking into a pub, bashing the publican and stealing his cash register being awarded $5000 when he was assaulted years later.
A WOMAN with convictions for dishonesty, including stealing from a relative, winning $7500 when she claimed to have been raped even though her alleged attacker was acquitted.
A JUNKIE with a long criminal past winning cash to remove his tattoos and buy a computer after saying he was abused as a child - claims not checked.
A WOMAN, once charged for recklessly causing serious injury, being compensated after she was knocked from a pier and broke her jaw after drinking two bourbons.
In each case, the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal rejected their applications based on their character.
But the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal overturned the decisions on appeal, ruling the claimants were not a burden on society.
Chief Magistrate Ian Gray said the crimes assistance tribunal refused a few cases based on the applicant`s character, behaviour or attitude.
But he said it was "a necessary safeguard in any system of justice that there be a right to appeal".
"In the overwhelming majority of cases, the applicant is successful (at the crimes assistance tribunal)."
In the past 10 years the crimes assistance tribunal has awarded $275 million to 26,000 victims.
Crime Victims Support Association president Noel McNamara said applications from undeserving types risked robbing genuine victims of their entitlements.
"We know there are people out there who are only looking for a dollar," he said.
Mr McNamara encouraged victims to go to the Victims` Register to find out when their attacker was due out of jail. Since the register was set up in 2004, 341 victims have signed up.
Ninety-one of those are relatives of murder victims, 25 of rape victims and 15 of people who died at the hands of a culpable driver.
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