The husband of a critically ill grandmother who died after being plunged into the icy North Sea during a bungled cruise ship rescue has hit out at the justice system after he was paid less than £13,000 compensation . Janet Richardson , 72 , was tipped into the water wearing just her nightdress as crew members tried to transfer her to a lifeboat on a stretcher during the rescue . Passengers shrieked in horror as the pensioner fought to stay afloat for up to eight minutes without a life jacket as crew tried to save her from the icy 2C waters . Janet Richardson , 72 , ( picture left with husband George ) died three weeks after being accidentally tipped into icy water as crew members onboard a cruise ship tried to transfer her to a lifeboat after she was taken ill . Passengers shrieked in horror as the pensioner fought to stay afloat for eight minutes without a life jacket . She was eventually pulled to safety using a long pole but died in hospital three weeks later from complications . Now widower George , 82 , has condemned the justice system after he was paid just £12,980 plus £7,000 other payments for the tragedy . And he says he has never received an apology from the cruise operators for the catastophe which was a ‘ significant contributory factor ' in the death of his wife . Mr Richardson , a retired farmer , said : ‘ It ’ s a disgrace I have never received any apology . 'The whole so-called rescue was a fiasco . 'They should never have used a lifeboat in those conditions , instead they should have used a helicopter , even experts agree . ‘ And then not to tether the boats together in those seas was simply ridiculous . I just can ’ t believe they didn ’ t take simple precautions. ’ Mrs Richardson ( pictured in water ) was eventually pulled to safety but died in hospital three weeks later . Mr Richardson , of Penrith , who was married to Janet for 30 years , said : ‘ I received less than £20,000 in total because my wife had pre-existing health problems but the trauma of being plunged into icy water definitely hastened her death . ‘ Justice has not been served . The penalty for those that did this is tiny compared to the nightmare I have suffered. ’ Mrs Richardson and her husband had been on a cruise to see the Northern Lights on board Ocean Countess when she suffered a gastro-intestinal haemorrhage in March 2011 . The liner was off the coast of Norway and the captain decided she was so ill she would need to be transferred to a hospital immediately . Crew members strapped her to a stretcher with a blanket and tried to pass her to a team on a lifeboat which had pulled up beside the ship . But the two boats , which were travelling side-by-side at 10 knots , were not tethered together and began to move apart at the crucial moment , plunging Mrs Richardson into the sea . One witness , Colin Prescott , told a later inquest : ‘ I saw the stretcher hit the side of the vessel . Mrs Richardson went one way and the stretcher went the other. ’ Mrs Richardson was treated in Norway before being airlifted back to the UK . Her husband kept a bedside vigil until her death on April 21 . Mrs Richardson was being moved from the cruise ship to a rescue boat on a stretcher when she was dropped . Because Mrs Richardson suffered from cirrhosis of the liver , high blood pressure and was an insulin-dependent diabetic prior to the cruise and because she later died of natural causes the compensation payment was restricted . The grandmother of eight was 18st and had a history of ill-health but her inquest heard that fighting for her life in freezing temperatures may have significantly contributed to her death . The Ocean Countess was owned by Cruise and Maritime Voyages ( CMV ) at the time but caught fire near Greece in 2013 and has since been sold for scrap . Joanne Berry , solicitor at Slater and Gordon , said Mr Richardson had received the maximum bereavement damages of £12,980 plus added payments . She said : ‘ The current law is not fair to families and we fully support a national campaign to review the level of bereavement damages for families in these situations. ’ Chris Coates of CMV said a full and final settlement was offered to Mr Richardson by the ship ’ s owners and insurer ’ s for the Norwegian Search and Rescue Service . He said : ‘ The company maintained close contact with Mr Richardson following the incident conveying our sympathies and offering support . ’
Janet George , 72 , died after being accidentally tipped into the sea . Crew members were trying to transfer her into a lifeboat during the rescue . She fought to stay afloat in icy water for eight minutes without a life jacket . Mrs George died in hospital three weeks later from complications . Her widower Richardson , 82 , has been paid less than £13,000 in compensation . He says he has never received an apology from the cruise operators .