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Neil Heywood's Wife Seeks China Murder Payout

Neil Heywood's Wife Seeks China Murder Payout

The family of a British businessman murdered by the wife of a senior Communist Party official in China are seeking compensation for his death.

Neil Heywood was killed in November 2011 by Gu Kailai, the wife of the head of the communist party in Chongqing, Bo Xilai. Gu was found guilty after a trial in September last year.

During her trial, Gu admitted to poisoning Mr Heywood, claiming that she had acted after he threatened her son, Bo Guagua, after a business deal turned sour.

Before he was found dead in a Chongqing hotel room in November 2011, Mr Heywood had been a long-time friend of Bo and his wife and helped their son settle into Britain, where he went to two private schools.

Mr Heywood's Chinese wife and British mother have now said compensation that would have been due to his family after a normal murder trial should be paid.

A source told Reuters, Mr Heywood's widow Lulu wants to sue Mrs Gu to get compensation for herself and their two young children

Mrs Heywood and the children are believed to be still living in Beijing.

Gu Kailai, was sentenced to life in jail for killing Mr Heywood in a case that also led to a corruption probe into Bo.

It is customary for a murderer to be ordered to pay court-sanctioned compensation to the victim's family.

It follows a statement from Mr Heywood's mother, Ann Heywood, who told the Wall Street Journal the family had seen no progress in seeking compensation from the authorities.

"Given the circumstances of Neil's murder, I have been surprised and disappointed that, despite repeated discreet approaches to the Chinese authorities, there has been no substantive or practical response," she said.

She urged China to show "decisiveness and compassion" to ease the effects of his death on the family, especially the children.

Bo, once a candidate for China's top leadership team, was sacked as Communist Party chief of the southwestern city of Chongqing last year when his wife was named as an official suspect in the murder.

He is now awaiting trial on charges of corruption, taking bribes and of bending the law.

The government originally implicated Bo in helping to cover up Mr Heywood's murder, but a legal indictment listing charges against him issued last month made no mention of that.

The British Embassy in Beijing said it had passed on the family's concerns about a lack of progress on the compensation request to the Chinese government.

"We've made the Chinese authorities, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aware of the family's concerns on several occasions since the trial, most recently twice during July," said an embassy spokesman, who did not elaborate.

China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.