m: Hopp53@aol.com [mailto:Hopp53@aol.com] Sent: 18 October 2006 01:09 To: Duty Office Subject: neva Dear Mathew Please find enclosed a letter I have sent to various people in connection with the contents therein. I have had a reply from the Prime Minister's office but as yet not from the very minister Gerry Sutcliffe MP dealing with this issue, or indeed from my local MP Janet Dean East Staffs. All I want to know is why when the sum of money we are talking about is far less than the amount it has cost so far to keep my friend's daughter's killer in prison, also many many more victims are affected by this issue and it is not going to change unless we get together and stop the government paying offfenders to leave the country or letting them out of prison to re-offend. All we are asking for is a mere drop in th e ocean, so that victims families can get together once in a while. We are not talking mega bucks here, just a fraction of the salary of some of our MP's that do not even afford us the courtesy of a reply to our communications. Jean Hopkinson 53 Park Avenue Uttoxeter Staffs 30 September 2006 Gerry Sutcliffe Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Home Office 2 Marsham Street London SW1 4DF Dear Sir, Reference: North of England Victims' Association First let me say I am not and never have been a “political animal” but I feel emotionally duty bound as a friend to bring to your attention, the plight of my very good friends and also thousands of other “victims”. My friends Sonia Moore and her husband Ken, who live in Uttoxeter Staffordshire, had gone through life and reared their children and were enjoying having time for themselves. Being in their early fifties they were looking forward to doing all the things they put on hold to rear their children. However their beautiful daughter at the age of thirty was murdered by her live in partner. Following a lengthy, traumatic investigation and subsequent trial, the “partner” was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. This is when my friends were forgotten by the “establishment” They became a statistic like the thousands of other “victims.” They are now the main carers for their two grandchildren, and to say they are financially stretched is an understatement, because Ken still works they are not entitled to all the benefits that are afforded to single parent families ,or indeed to the families of the perpetrator of the crimes. So literally they have inherited another ready made family, not through choice but because the tragic circumstances have made it so. Since their tragic loss, having met other victims, they do not feel quite so alone and isolated, knowing they are not the only people to suffer such a terrible tragedy. We as friends can offer our support, but with the best will in the world we cannot begin to imagine what they are going through, only someone who is experiencing the same can know. That is why I am writing this letter, to inform you that , after witnessing the unstinting support they have received from the Victims' Association and the quite positive effect it has had upon them since their tragic loss of their daughter, cannot be measured emotionally and certainly not FINANCIALLY . I cannot believe that a PRICE can be put upon the blatantly obvious benefits that this Association provides for all the tragic members. A Club I might add that not one person would elect to be a member of, by choice! So to consider taking away the very support they have come to rely on, purely for financial reasons, is not only insensitive and unjustified, it is downright “criminal”. If you have a shred of feeling for these forgotten “victims” then I most urgently implore you to do your utmost to retain this, what the “victims” have come to see as their “Lifeline”. A reply to this letter would be much appreciated, a copy of which has been forwarded to my local MP and to the Prime Minister. I remain, Yours faithfully, J. A. Hopkinson (Mrs) ********************************************************************** Please visit the official ITV website at www.itv.com for the latest company news. This email and any files transmitted are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify postmaster@itv.com Please think of the environment before printing this email. Thank you. **********************************************************************