Murdered teen phone bill shock

Jan 14 2008 by Kevin Donald, The Journal

THE family of a murdered girl have been threatened with court action over her mobile phone bill.

Phone company O2 has demanded more than £400 from the family of Samantha Madgin, who was stabbed near her home in Wallsend last August.

Her family were horrified to receive the bill, which covers her line rental, and when they disputed it, the matter was put in the hands of debt collectors threatening court action.

Samantha, 18, was killed just 10 weeks after giving birth to her son, Callum.

Her mother Alison, 42, has been told that her debt of £433 has been passed on to the collection agency.

She said: “Under the circumstances, I can’t believe that they are doing this. Their attitude is appalling.

“I kept getting reminders because I had closed her bank account. Then I had to send her death certificate to them but now I’m getting litigation orders. I haven’t looked at her death certificate myself, so I hate the thought of others looking at it.

“It’s almost as if they don’t believe me that my daughter was killed. It’s as if they think I would make up something like that.

“I was crying my eyes out. I don’t want people to look at my daughter’s death certificate.”

Samantha made her last call from the phone the day she died and it was initially held by police investigating her death and then was returned to her family. A teenager accused of killing Samantha will appear in court next month and Alison continues to care for Samantha’s son, now eight months old.

She said: “The phone hasn’t been used for calls since the day she died.

“It’s never been used since. She had it on the night she was murdered and the police had it and we only got it back recently.”

A spokesman for O2 said: “We are currently working with the customer to resolve the issue.”

:: A 15-year-old girl who cannot be identified has pleaded not guilty to Samantha’s murder and will go on trial at Newcastle Crown Court next month.

She also denied a charge of affray relating to the same incident. Steven Wilson, 20, Kenneth Horsman, 25, both of Wallsend, and David Kerr, 35 of High Heaton, Newcastle, have all pleaded not guilty to affray. A fifth man, Terence Davidson, 18, of Walker, Newcastle, admitted affray.