Family of stabbed pensioners to lobby Naomi Long for crime victims’ commissioner

The family of Michael and Marjorie Cawdery, who both died in a knife attack by Thomas McEntee at their home in Portadown in 2017, are set to meet the minister on March 25.

In England and Wales, the victims’ commissioner has specific legal powers and can work directly with the Ministry of Justice to advocate on behalf of crime victims.

No such post exists in Northern Ireland, although there is a victims’ commissioner who acts on behalf of victims of the Troubles.

Charles Little, the son-in-law of Mr and Mrs Cawdery, who was the first on the scene following their brutal killing, recently wrote an open letter to the Stormont Executive outlining the need for a crime victims’ commissioner in Northern Ireland.

Mr Little told the News Letter he is pleased Mrs Long has agreed to meet with the family.

“She has invited the family to come and meet with her, so that is quite positive,” he said.

“We are also hoping to meet with the Health Minister, Robin Swann, but we are aware he has some other issues – not least of which is the coronavirus – to deal with right now.

“But we are in discussions with the Department of Health so, although we have not yet heard from Robin Swann, we hope to meet with him as well.”

Two years after the deaths of Michael and Marjorie Cawdery, the family received an apology from the Department of Health at Stormont after being forced to endure a long struggle to find out the full facts surrounding the pensioners’ deaths.

It emerged that McEntee had made four separate visits to hospital seeking help – on one occasion while completely naked, with cuts on his arm after self-harming, and believing his life to be in danger – before arriving at the Cawdery home.

The department apologised last year for “missed opportunities and failings” in the lead-up to the deaths.

Mr Little said a crime victims’ commissioner could help victims seek answers and help communicate their views to those tasked with drawing up legislation on areas such as crime and mental health.

“In our case, for the first year we couldn’t get the health service to talk to us. If we’d had a victims’ commissioner like in England and Wales, we could have gone to the commissioner who could then have gone straight to the Department of Health on our behalf,” he added.