NT: Story deals sould figure in crime compensation: Toyne

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NT: Story deals sould figure in crime compensation: Toyne

By Rod McGuirk

DARWIN, Aug 22 AAP - A windfall such as Joanne Lees' exclusive television story dealshould be taken into account when assessing crime compensation, Northern Territory Attorney-GeneralPeter Toyne said today.

Ms Lees is claiming $28,000 compensation from the NT government after a stranger apparentlyshot her boyfriend Peter Falconio and attempted to abduct her north of Alice Springs lastyear.

Under NT victims of crime legislation, $80,000 the 28-year-old British travel agentreportedly made in an exclusive deal with a British network cannot be taken into account.

But Dr Toyne said such windfalls should be considered in a reform process to curb theburgeoning costs of victims compensation.

"I would image that if there's some other direct financial result of the involvementin the crime, that should also be considered in setting the degree of compensation," DrToyne told reporters today.

"Now, if one of the elements of the victim's circumstance is that they've receivedsome financial windfall, then obviously that should remove some of the need for support- of the financial nature, at any rate."

Dr Toyne said his government could develop a position on victims making money fromcrime after community consultations on victim support reforms in October.

The government introduced legislation today that would make medical insurance a factorin how much a victim was awarded.

But any changes to the system probably would not affect Ms Lees' claim since it hadalready been submitted, he said.

Mr Falconio's father Luciano has expressed reservations about Ms Lees' pursuit of compensation.

But Dr Toyne has urged against public criticism of Ms Lees' claim.

"You've got to stick to the facts and unless people understand the facts of the Falconiocase in sufficient detail, really it's inappropriate to be passing judgment in a publicforum over it," he said.

"Undoubted her life's been enormously disrupted by what happened and I'd say to thegeneral public, the jury's out literally and figuratively on what happened to Peter Falconioand what happened to Joanne Lees.

"It is most unwise to be putting forward theories, particularly in public and in themedia, until we all know the facts of it."

AAP rmg/cjh/sb

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