Convicted criminals’ entitlement to benefits will be reviewed after it emerged triple killer Valdo Calocane is receiving welfare payments.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride is looking into the situation after reports that Calocane was eligible to continue receiving universal credit because he was sentenced to a hospital order rather than jailed.
Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order last week for stabbing to death university students Barnaby Webber, 19, and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in Nottingham last year.
Paranoid schizophrenic Calocane admitted manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.
The Telegraph reported he is eligible for universal credit payments of up £360 a month after being sent to the high-security Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside.
Mr Webber’s mother, Emma, speaking on behalf of the families of the three victims, told the newspaper: “This is truly devastating to hear and it adds yet more layers of grief and a sense of injustice to those of us left behind.”
Downing Street said Rishi Sunak was “very concerned” about the reports.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Attorney General is looking at the sentence to decide whether it needs to be considered by the Court of Appeal.
“And the Work and Pensions Secretary is looking into the details of this case specifically and the rules around benefits entitlements more broadly and it’s right that we let these reviews run their course and establish the facts.”
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