Galway Bay fm newsroom - The mother of the victim of a murder which took place in Inverin has been allowed to make a significant amendment as part of her legal challenge over the State's refusal to pay her compensation.
Magdalena Vonkova, from Prague in the Czech Republic, is the mother of Nicola Vonkova who was murdered when she was 19 by Jakub Fidler in July 2008.
He is serving life imprisonment after pleading guilty in 2010 to murder.
The victim's mother has brought a High Court challenge against the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal's refusal of her application for compensation.
It was refused because Ms Vonkova and Fidler, who had been friends, were residing in the same house at the time of her death.
The compensation scheme provides no money is payable "where the offender and the victim were living together as members of the same household at the time the injuries were inflicted".
It is claimed that Ms Vonkova and Fidler lived in the same house but were not members of a household in the strict sense, and that the refusal to grant compensation should be quashed.
In a ruling on a preliminary issue in the case, Senan Allen said lawyers for the mother are entitled to amend their claim.
The Judge said he was satisfied to allow another ground on which the compensation scheme can be challenged by the mother.
The additional ground is that the scheme is allegedly incompatible with a person’s right to remedy guaranteed by Article 47 of the European Union’ s Charter of Fundamental Rights and in breach of EU law.
The mother’s lawyers claim the amendment is just and necessary for the purpose of determining the case.
At Fidler's trial, the Central Criminal court was told in 2010 that Ms Vonkova died from strangulation following a row about spying on Fidler's computer.
The pair first met in the Czech Republic when they were both working at a Tesco store.
