The mother of a prisoner who died in custody due to a lack of medical care claims she should have received part of a $325,000 compensation award paid out to his long-term partner.

Elizabeth Astwood, whose asthmatic son Steven Mansfield (Peppy) Dill died at Prison Farm in 2001, said she was devastated not to have been told about the legal settlement made by Government with Mr. Dill’s partner Lee-Ann Samuels Dill.

But last night Ms Samuels Dill, who lived with Mr. Dill for 14 years and has an 18-year-old son, Jah-Lario, by him, insisted she deserved the pay-out after fighting relentlessly to have an inquest held into his death at the age of 41.

“It’s nowhere near enough to bring him back,” she told The Royal Gazette. “I received $325,000, his soul mate, his life, his best friend, his wife.

“I was the one that pursued the inquest into his death. I would not let it rest. I pursued it every day for five years. I got a lawyer. I pursued him and I pursued everybody else. Three hundred and twenty five thousand dollars is never enough to bring him back.”

Mrs. Astwood said she felt she deserved a portion of the money because her son and Ms Samuels Dill never legally married.

“They was never married and that’s what I want to make known,” she said, adding that she and her son’s partner “never hit it off” while Mr. Dill was alive and remained aloof after his death.

The 62-year-old, of Parliament Street, Pembroke resident, said Government should have had the courtesy to inform her about the settlement, which she heard about from Mr. Dill’s brother Antoine.

“How do they think I feel?” she said. “They never consulted me, they never said nothing to me. They never got in touch with me to let me know there was a settlement. This is what hurt. Is it because I didn’t have a lawyer?”

She said she did not pursue a claim for compensation herself or seek legal assistance because she believed Ms Samuels Dill’s lawyer Saul Froomkin was acting on her behalf too.

Mr. Dill’s sister, Gina Tweed, 45, said: “They just never contacted my mom. It’s devastating. It’s so hurtful. We would have thought that she would have been the next of kin and then something would have been in trust for his son.”

She added: “I think in all fairness because they lived together she (Ms Samuels Dill) should have got something. But if it was distributed to my mom I know for a fact my mom would have made sure she was taken care of and Jah-Lario.”

Mr. Dill’s father Raymond Burgess, 65, said: “They should have notified the parents first of anything that happened. It’s the mother and father that brought the child into the world. I think his mother was entitled to something. They have treated us like we were nothing. We paid for the funeral and all that.”

Ms Samuels Dill, 37, said the money from the Corrections Department would be used to put Jah-Lario through school and to help her other son Jahkiel, 21, who was brought up by Mr. Dill from the age of three.

She said Mr. Dill’s family had “no respect” for her. “We were not legally married in any court but I count myself Peppy’s wife,” she added. “He considered me his wife in his heart and soul.”

Mr. Dill, who was serving time for drugs possession, was four months away from being released from the Ferry Reach facility in December 2001 when he suffered a chronic asthma attack. He failed to receive the help he needed for seven hours and became unconscious before dying.

An inquest jury in 2003 returned a verdict of death due to the absence of timely medical intervention for bronchial asthma, possibly exacerbated by drug abuse.

Ms Samuels Dill said: “It’s not about the money. It’s never about the money. I pursued it for my family and for him. If his mother wants to pursue another thing, let her.

“He is not here and the fact is that he fought for seven hours and nobody paid him no mind. If you can bring back Steven Peppy Dill, you can have the $325,000.”

Mr. Froomkin could not be contacted. A Government spokesman said he had no comment.