The daughter of a man who was shot by the IRA in his family home over 30 years ago has been denied a Troubles victims payment despite her mother being approved. Jeanitta McCabe witnessed the attack on her father, Peter McCabe, in their Newry home. However, the board overseeing the Troubles Permanent Disability Payment (TPDP) deemed Ms McCabe’s application to be inapplicable due to them not considering the shooting a “Troubles-related incident”. Kevin Winters, the family’s legal representative, criticised the board’s decision for denying Ms McCabe’s application but approving her mother’s.
The TPDP scheme compensates those permanently physically or psychologically disabled as a result of a Troubles-related injury. The Victims’ Payments Board, which oversees the scheme, issued guidance that paramilitary-style attacks do not fall within this definition. The board believes that members of a paramilitary group acting as vigilantes against “a person who was engaged in or was perceived as being engaged in ‘anti-social behaviour’ or crime” should not fall within the TPDP’s remit. The McCabe family state that the parameters are unreasonable.
Ms McCabe, who suffers from PTSD and fibromyalgia, appealed the decision but was also turned down. Her father was also rejected from the scheme, but her mother was approved. Mr Winters said “It sets the bar very, very high in terms of the evidential threshold that a victim must establish before the incident giving rise to their injuries would be considered a Troubles-related incident.” and added that “Mr McCabe said he didn’t know why he was attacked and that honesty on his part was used against him.” The Victims’ Payment Board has yet to comment further on the case
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