A ROBBERY victim who has been unable to leave his house since his ordeal has had his claim for compensation turned down.

Colin Evans applied to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority after the raid left him a virtual prisoner in his own home, only able to go outside when he was accompanied by a friend.

But now the authority has rejected his request, claiming Mr Evans already had psychological problems before the attack.

Mr Evans was pinned to the floor when two men barged into his home in Whitefields Drive, Richmond, North Yorkshire, and held at knifepoint while the raiders made off with £10, his mobile phone and a PlayStation.

The intruders, now serving jail terms for the robbery, also threatened to kill Mr Evans's disabled mother Kathleen Evans, 79. Mrs Evans was uninjured but died on New Year's Day, three months later.

Mr Evans, 48, has suffered five nervous breakdowns since he was 16 but said he had been able to leave the house before the burglary.

But he said the shock of opening the door to knife-wielding raiders had left him terrified of going out and even scared to answer the door.

He said: "I had a nervous breakdown when I was 16 and I have had four since then but I have always managed to get through them.

"This has led to me being more or less housebound and I am scared to go out the door. Before that I was going out quite well."

He said he also blamed the raid for the death of his mother, who he had looked after for the past 15 years. "The doctors said she died with shock in the night. She was always worrying about the thugs coming back."

But now the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has written to Mr Evans telling him he is not eligible for a pay-out for the distress caused by the raid.

The CICA said the fact he had psychological problems before the burglary meant he was not entitled to any payment.

Mr Evans, who survives on £52 a week income support, said he was now planning to appeal against the ruling.

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