Nearly 150 patients detained under the Mental Health Act receive up to £95-a-week incapacity benefit.
An average single mother gets only around £60.50 a week in income support, while a typical single OAP gets £92 state pension.
A source at the Broadmoor maximum security hospital in Berkshire said: “It’s a scandal. A psychopath could kill a young woman, get sent here and get paid around the same by the State as the bereaved mother of the victim. “Families are struggling with the credit crunch, yet we are dishing out money to someone who may have killed their wife or child — so dangerous they are not allowed on the street.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “The law requires us to treat them the same as any hospital in-patient.”
A High Court case brought yesterday on legal aid by a convicted murderer and a rapist could allow handouts to virtually ALL 1,000 patients in top security hospitals. It costs £60,000 a year for a bed in a maximum security hospital, with free health care, meals and food. If the Broadmoor Two win their case, board plus benefits would be over £66,000. Broadmoor said 20 patients received incapacity benefit.
Mersey Care NHS Trust, which runs Ashworth, said: “We have patients who receive incapacity benefit in accordance with guidelines.” Rampton refused to comment.
Filed under: Abusing the System, Madness | Tagged: Abusing the System, Hospital, Killer, Law & Order, Patients, Victim
