Father will receive no compensation from son’s murder
The father of a man murdered in May 2007 has seen his compensation claim rejected as it is felt his son contributed to his own death.
Kevin Johnson, who was 22 at the time, was stabbed outside his home in Sunderland after he confronted three unruly teenagers.
John Johnson, Kevin’s father, was told that if Kevin had stayed inside his home, instead of challenging the youths, then he would not have been the victim of a stabbing.
The three teenagers, Dean Curtis, Tony Hawkes, and Jordan Towers, aged 19, 17, and 16 respectively, were later jailed for life over the murder. Minimum sentences ranged from 13 to 17 years.
John Johnson, 57, has had his compensation bids turned down by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) twice.
John commented: “I know a lot of families now agree with what I do…we feel we should be given this compensation as a right and not have to fight for it or even apply for it”.
“I’ve heard that only about 5% of families put in for it because of all the stigma that surrounds it, and out of those that do 70% get turned down.”
When asked for comments, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority said it would not speak about individual cases.
John has now set up the “Enough is Enough” campaign, which pleas for harsher sentences for people found guilty of using knives in cases of assault.