A hero West Midlands policeman left for dead after being shot twice at point blank range has been offered £4,400 compensation, the Express & Star can reveal today.
The move outraged colleagues of Pc Geoff King, aged 34, who almost died after being shot by Marcus Bailey in Wolverhampton.
They branded the award an “insult” and compared it to payouts such as £484,000 given to an RAF office worker who injured typing.
Bailey was two ft away from Pc King as he opened fire on a path off the Penn Road after being approached during police checks followin a spate of car thefts on November 11 2006.
He was shot twice and lost six and a half pints of blood. Doctors said he was within two minutes of dying. He is still having treatment from a psychologist. He has a full time office job at a city police station but is unfit for operational duties.
Pc King was offered £4,400 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) – the flat rate for mental trauma lasting between 28 weeks and two years. A friend said: “He has suffered serious injuries and terrible mental trauma that still prevents him from doing normal operational duties. He did not expect a fortune, perhaps £10,000, but this is just a slap in the face to a brave officer. It is also an insult to all serving police officers.”
Pc King said today: “I am not happy with the offer and am seeking legal advice.”
Philip Gibson, of the CICA said: “For victims of violent crime, a compensation payment from the CICA is often one of the key things they receive to show that society recognises what they have suffered. Although we cannot go into details of individual cases, we do aim to provide a fair service for our applicants.”
Bailey, 25, formerly of Warnford Walk, Merry Hill, recently lost an appeal to have his life term for attempted murder cut. Girlfriend Melissa McKenzie, 19, of Bromford Rise, Blakenhall, got a suspended jail sentence for perverting the course of justice as he tried to evade capture.
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14 Comments
This man was doing his job .
Looking after the citizens of wolverhampton
And in the line of duty he is shot.
So he should get a bigger pay out he has not just lost his job he has lost his vocation
And now has to sit behind a desk all day.
The British police are the best its an insult to this man you get more if you slip at Sainsburys or Asda
This is an absolute disgrace. The people or body who have made this offer should be publically named and shamed. No doubt if one of these so called do gooders falls over on a supermarket car park and bruisers their big toe , they will be after thousands and thousands in compensation. God only knows what this country is coming to.
£4,400!!! How dare he get that much…Lesley Ash ONLY got a few MILLION from the NHS for catching MRSA…Stop the World, i want to get off.
That’s criminal injuries for you… How do you get money off the person who is responsible for this. Can’y compare with medical negligence or breach of H & S. Maybe they should just hang the scum bag who shot him. But he is more likely to get a pay out than PC King, if he complains his porridge was not hot enough in prison for him… Damm stupid country…
Outrageous just Outrageous
I agree with JCH Damm Stupid Country……
Celebs are thought more of than people who do real work. GIVE THE COP A MILLION POUND PLUS - A BRAVE MAN !!!!
P.C.King has shown fortitude and has battled his way back to health. His honesty has obviously been his downfall and this story is a sad sad indictment of an unfair system that awards £484,000 to an RAF typist who claimed she had suffered repetitive strain injury to her thumb but ofers only £152,150 - little more than half the maximum award for maimed military personnel -to Ben Parkinson, terribly injured whilst fighting in Afghanistan.
i wonder how much BAILEY would have received in compensation if PC KING had been a firearms officer and had SHOT him twice at close range, MILLIONS !!, he would have never worked again, probably didn’t anyway and now PC KING has been taken away from the job he obviously enjoyed.
This country is going down the pan Quickly.
IF NOBODY IN THE MIDLANDS WANTS TO PAY THE POLICE EITHER COULD THEY DISAPPEAR TOO FROM DISINTEREST AND NEGLIGANCE ?
A LAWLESS FREE FOR ALL WORTHY OF A COLOMBIAN JUNGLE FULL OF COCAIN DEALERS. PERHAPS THE ENORMOUS UK TAXES COULD BE SPENT IN MORE USEFUL WAYS TO STOP THIS SORT OF DISGUSTING BEHAVIOUR.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.DON’T PAY THE COPS,FLATTEN THEM WITH BUREAUCRACY AND LEAVE THEM HALF EQUIPPED WHAT DO YOU GET ? NO MORE COPS ! SAME GOES FOR THE ARMY.
NO I WON’T SHUT UP TODAY ! THE PLANET’S GONE MAD.THERE IS NOTHING STOPPING YOU SAYING YOU AGREE WITH ME.THE MORE THE MERRIER.
Must agree with Klunk 71.. this country is going down the pan quickly… I’m now sure i made the right decision to emigrate ti NZ 10 years back, at least the justice system here is the right way around…
Just shows what the Government thinks about the people who protect our towns and cities.
If the evil cretin who shot PC King had have been injured the paid to him probably would have been closer to a million.
We seem to give to those who don’t deserve it and yet those who do we treat with contempt.
pc king has been let down again by the very people he was protecting being on duty,the government. but we all know what they think of the police no pay award and now a £4400 insult for a dad who was shot twice within a minute of dying and whose job just happened to be a police officer, but they still go out every day and do the job faceing the same dangers, well done boys and girls there are people that respect you !
as a wolvo bloke living in Canada when i get pulled oner in my car one cop questions me on the drivers side window while the other goes around the other side window and watches me with his hand on his Glock pistol ready to pull it out “just in case” result? im nice as pie and i can tell you now any cop killed on duty here is big news. and if any politician here ever tried to compensate any cops family with such a pittance the best he could hope for that when he dies his body is buried in secret so it isnt dug up and mutilated!!! the peope who came up with that amount of ” Fair ” compensation should be taken out and flogged!!! and people wonder why i moved to Canada.