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Mohammed Idris's shop was destroyed in an arson attack. Photo courtesy of Mohammed Idris
VICTIMS of high profile race hate attacks are among those who have been refused compensation under Stormont’s criminal damage scheme.
The Victims of Crime commissioner has said the scheme is no longer fit for purpose after it emerged that at least two businesses in Belfast whose properties were damaged during a spate of race hate crimes last summer were deemed ineligible for compensation.
The Criminal Damage Compensation Scheme, administered by the Department of Justice, offers redress to businesses and people whose properties or vehicles have been maliciously damaged.
The scheme was set up in 1977, during the height of the Troubles, to cover people whose properties were damaged and were unable to get insurance.
Under the rules of the scheme, victims must get confirmation from police that the damage was carried out by either a paramilitary group or by “an unlawful assembly of three or more people”.
Businessmen Mohammed Idris and Ahmad Alkhamran were among those who were refused compensation.
Mr Idris’s computer repair shop on Sandy Row was destroyed in an arson attack in August, while Mr Alkhamran’s grocery store on Donegall Road was damaged in an arson attack in September.
At the time, The Detail asked the PSNI whether it was investigating possible paramilitary involvement in the attacks.
A spokeswoman said the force was investigating several lines of enquiry.
It has now emerged that Mr Idris and Mr Alkhamran were refused compensation late last year on the grounds that the attacks were not carried out by three or more people or a paramilitary group.
However, it is understood police were continuing to investigate the attacks while the claims were being assessed.
A PSNI spokeswoman said the force was still investigating the attack on Mr Idris’s shop until December 2023. Officers were still investigating the attack on Mr Alkhamran’s shop until April this year.
PSNI Superintendent Finola Dornan told The Detail the force has now “exhausted all active lines of inquiry” in each case.
“Should fresh evidence come to light, now or in the future, it will be thoroughly investigated with a view to bringing those responsible to justice,” she said.
Mohammed Idris's computer shop on Sandy Row in south Belfast was destroyed in an arson attack. Photo by Luke Butterly, The Detail
Mr Idris said the Department of Justice (DoJ), which administers the scheme, told him to apply for compensation following the attack.
“To reduce the tensions at the time of the accident, they give you a big hope: that this compensation is for you,” he said.
“It looks like the scheme is used to open a window of hope when the victim is very upset, but then to deny the claim sometime later.
“I spoke with (the DoJ) personally - ‘We can help you’. It's all just talk, no one is helping from the DoJ.”
He added: “They need a fund in place to support victims.”
Mr Idris said he initially wanted to appeal the decision, but was told he could end up losing out financially.
The department told his solicitor: “Should your client wish to proceed to court and should compensation services successfully defend the appeal, we will seek costs in this matter."
Between 2019 and 2023, a total of 875 applications for compensation were lodged under the scheme. Of these, around 72% (630), were refused, The Detail can reveal.
Geraldine Hanna, the Commissioner Designate for Victims of Crime Northern Ireland, said the scheme is no longer “fit for purpose in today's environment”.
“We need to remove the barriers that exist in our current scheme, which really are hindering victims from getting appropriate financial redress,” she said.
“(The barriers) mean that it's difficult for victims to be able to fit within those parameters (even) where there's no dispute that they have been a victim of a crime, and that this has been orchestrated.
“Because whilst obviously living in a more peaceful society, the hangovers of our past in terms of paramilitarism is very evident in our organised crime gangs.”
A grocery shop on Donegall Road in Belfast, owned by Syrian-born Ahmad Alkhamran, was destroyed in an arson attack. Photo by Jonathan Porter, Press Eye
A spokeswoman for the DoJ said it was unable to comment on individual cases.
“Compensation services apply the eligibility criteria consistently in each and every case; if a claim does not fall within the criteria, an award cannot be made,” she said.
The spokeswoman said the compensation scheme was set up during the Troubles to help people who were “often excluded from insurance cover”.
“The scheme was designed to fill that gap, not provide an alternative to insurance or wider access to government compensation,” she said.
“Whilst a different environment exists today, sadly incidents falling within the scope of the scheme still occur and the scheme fulfils its purpose in those cases as intended.”
She said the department is reviewing the scheme “to determine whether the existing scheme is still relevant in light of that changed landscape”.
“It is also important to ensure that the scheme is sustainable and remains affordable given the pressures on public finances,” she said.