Publication
50969 (28 November 2022)
From Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Published on
Last updated on
From Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Published on
Last updated on
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
In the matter of an application under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted
Decision of a Single Member
Name of applicant: [ ]
Application number: #50969
Date of incident: [ ]
Date of receipt of application: [ ]
Decision outcome: Award of €3,380
[ ] (“the Applicant”) has made a claim for compensation under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted (“the Scheme”).
The Applicant’s claim is that he was assaulted by a person unknown to him on [ ] following a night out with friends in a pub in [ ]. The Applicant has furnished details of the incident to the Tribunal on his application form, notably: that he had encountered a group of individuals as he made his way to the toilets in the pub on the evening in question; that they had blocked his passage; that comments were made and that after this encounter he felt uneasy and felt that he might be targeted, so decided to leave the pub; that he was followed by three people, one of whom proceeded to assault him in a local carpark and that this resulted in the Applicant sustaining serious facial injuries, including a broken nose and cheek bone, as well as bruised ribs. The Applicant reported the assault immediately by phone to the Gardaí at [ ] Garda Station.
The Applicant was admitted to hospital on the day of the attack and remained an in-patient for the following week. Thereafter the Applicant attended both his own GP, Dr [ ] and his dentist, [ ], both practising in [ ], for treatment for the injuries he sustained.
In a Garda Report, received by the Tribunal on [ ], the Gardaí confirmed the attack occurred in the [ ] carpark, [ ] in the early hours of [ ]. The Gardaí confirmed that the Applicant had suffered a broken nose, swollen larynx and bruised ribs as a result of the assault, and that he had to have plates inserted to the side of his face. The Gardaí also confirmed that a file had been sent to the DPP and section 3 Assault charges were expected, but that no proceedings had been taken at that point. The Gardaí expressly noted in their Report to the Tribunal that the Applicant was of good character.
From the Applicant’s file it appears that after a letter had issued to the Applicant from the Tribunal on [ ] confirming receipt of the Applicant’s application, there was a breakdown in communications between the Applicant and the Tribunal. This came to light in recent email correspondence exchanges between the Tribunal and the Applicant in or around [ ], at which point the Applicant confirmed that as a [ ], working alone for up to [ ] years prior to the assault, he was off work for several weeks following surgery after the attack, but that he had never re-opened his business, as he had never regained his confidence in meeting the public, and instead had secured employment locally.
The Applicant has furnished the Tribunal with his business accounts for the years preceding the attack. He claims that he would have been earning approximately €500 per week at the time of the incident, but that he did not qualify for dole payments and he had earned nothing for the six weeks following the assault. It appears that the Applicant was a participant in a health insurance scheme at the time of the incident and this covered his hospital and dental costs, however it did not cover his GP visits, who, the Applicant contends, he attended on about six occasions following his discharge from hospital, at a cost of €30 per attendance. The Applicant is also claiming travel expenses for attending medical reviews upon discharge from hospital.
It is clear that the Applicant was the victim of a crime of violence on [ ], having been assaulted by a person unknown to him and suffering personal injuries directly attributable to that crime of violence (satisfying paragraph 1 of the Scheme). The Applicant reported the assault to the Gardaí by phone on the day of the attack (satisfying paragraph 22 of the Scheme). The Applicant submitted his application within the three-month time period prescribed under the Scheme (satisfying paragraph 20 (formerly 21) of the Scheme). By reason of the foregoing, this application is deemed eligible for further consideration for compensation.
As it is unclear where or how the breakdown in communication arose between the Tribunal and the Applicant in respect of the Applicant’s case, the Tribunal must give the benefit of the doubt to the Applicant. The Applicant has made an honest claim for a number of weeks loss of earnings dating back to [ ] when he was assaulted and suffered serious facial injuries. The Applicant has provided all reasonable assistance to the Tribunal in furnishing what documentation he can, some [ ] years after the incident the subject matter of his application. It would be unreasonable to expect the Applicant to have retained vouching documentation for travel for medical reviews and/or GP visits. That being so, the Tribunal awards the Applicant the following:
The Tribunal acknowledges that the Applicant suffered a nasty attack in the early hours of [ ] and that in addition to sustaining serious physical injuries to his face, the Applicant felt that he had to make changes to his life in the aftermath of the attack, in that he gave up his sole trading business as [ ] due to loss of confidence in dealing with the public, although he went on to secure local employment.
It is now [ ] years since the incident and the crime of violence visited upon the Applicant and the Tribunal takes this opportunity to wish the Applicant well into the future.
Award of €3,380
Nora Pat Stewart
28 November 2022