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Criminal Injuries
As anyone any experience of appearing before a Criminal Injuries Panel.
Four years ago my son was injured in an incident. He was out with his work colleagues for a Christmas meal and went outside to have a smoke.
Whilst he was there he saw 4 young thugs attacking a guy on the ground. They were kicking and punching him and one had just smashed a bottle and was about ot hit him with it.
At this point my son intervened and they turned on him instead. He was also kicked and punched repaeatedly before one of the other guests intervened and dragged him away. She then threw him over a fence to get him away from them.
He was taken to casualty with lots of cuts and bruises but the main injury was to his eye. My OH and I arrived at the hospital and his eye was a complete mess. In fact, you couldn't tell it was his eye.
To cut a long story short he then had to have surgery to repair the eyelid and a ruptured tear duct. The person who 'rescued' him was an off duty police officer. She is of the opinion that the other guy would have been dead if my son hadn't intervened. Because his eyelid was almost detroyed the resulting surgery has left him with one eye appearing more open than the other. He is particularly conscious about this.
He was recommended and received a bravery award from Greater Manchester Police. He was then advised to claim under the Criminal Injuries scheme. He was awarded the minimum of £1000. We were advised by Victim Support than he shouldn't accept and we were of the same opinion. They did not seem to take into account the psychological damage this has done to him. He no longer goes out socialising and crosses the street if the sees any youths walking towards him. There is a lot more to it but too much to go into here.
He now has a hearing next month in front of the panel and is concerned about what will happen. I have read up on the process on-line but it is not very informative.
BTW he was told that his compensation would be reduced because he was not the victim and could have avoided injury if he had not intervened! No wonder so many people walk away.
So if anyone ever been in front of one of these panels and can tell us anything about it I would be really grateful.
Four years ago my son was injured in an incident. He was out with his work colleagues for a Christmas meal and went outside to have a smoke.
Whilst he was there he saw 4 young thugs attacking a guy on the ground. They were kicking and punching him and one had just smashed a bottle and was about ot hit him with it.
At this point my son intervened and they turned on him instead. He was also kicked and punched repaeatedly before one of the other guests intervened and dragged him away. She then threw him over a fence to get him away from them.
He was taken to casualty with lots of cuts and bruises but the main injury was to his eye. My OH and I arrived at the hospital and his eye was a complete mess. In fact, you couldn't tell it was his eye.
To cut a long story short he then had to have surgery to repair the eyelid and a ruptured tear duct. The person who 'rescued' him was an off duty police officer. She is of the opinion that the other guy would have been dead if my son hadn't intervened. Because his eyelid was almost detroyed the resulting surgery has left him with one eye appearing more open than the other. He is particularly conscious about this.
He was recommended and received a bravery award from Greater Manchester Police. He was then advised to claim under the Criminal Injuries scheme. He was awarded the minimum of £1000. We were advised by Victim Support than he shouldn't accept and we were of the same opinion. They did not seem to take into account the psychological damage this has done to him. He no longer goes out socialising and crosses the street if the sees any youths walking towards him. There is a lot more to it but too much to go into here.
He now has a hearing next month in front of the panel and is concerned about what will happen. I have read up on the process on-line but it is not very informative.
BTW he was told that his compensation would be reduced because he was not the victim and could have avoided injury if he had not intervened! No wonder so many people walk away.
So if anyone ever been in front of one of these panels and can tell us anything about it I would be really grateful.
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The whole incident you describe is shocking Mollybe, but the reduction in compensation for being brave and helping out a fellow citizen is just appalling :eek: .
I know someone who was caught up in a similar situation but accepted the first offer, so it didn't go to panel, so sorry but I can't help there.
I hope you get the advice on here and the outcome from the panel hearing that your son needs. Do keep us updated
After a group of youths cames and started smashing there way into the house (fuelled with drink/drugs?) one family memeber ran out and was beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed 5 times, the other family member went to get the first family member off the ground and got to the front gate before being beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed 5 times. They both thankfully lived, the first one had a smashed knee and punctured lung has been refused Criminal Injuries because he walked into the fight (to stop them coming into the family home). Second family member was saved but by the grace of god, when they smashed the bat over his head the burst his ear drum meaning he bled out, otherwise his brain would have swelled. They also punctured his lung.
The 4 people who done it were sent to prison and have been in and out on appeal since until last year when a judge ruled they should do there time. Although one gets weekend release
Anyway still waiting as the second one lost his career as a result, they have to take loss of earnings in to account with his pay out.
They were never given victim support.
They were never given any information regarding it.
They were in hospital for weeks though, and pretty out of it.
I don't mind admitting I'm terrified.
I was assaulted in 2005 (still no compo!!)... put in a claim in 2006 (claim rejected as a "fought 2 attackers but was overpowered by a third")....
Anyway, long story short is that my head was used as a football near a cashpoint and I now get seizures. They were very regular but now they have calmed a little (3 or 4 times a month on average).
I can't "work" as the seizures are unpredicatable and CICA have spent 5 years sorting through the claim...
Medical report after medical report... all saying the same thing and all answered in the same manner - to many different doctors/neurologists and experts. All reports confirm the cause/diagnosis and unpredictability... yet CICA keep stalling and stalling.
I suspect I may have to appeal their decision as they look for ANYTHING to reject a claim (genuinely don't know what it could be!) - but I wondered what your experience was like in front of a panel. Was it as daunting as it sounds? I have taken some advice - but what's the point? CICA are a closed unit and a law unto themselves it appears
The Criminal eventually paid up for my family and he recieved 32K after rejecting their first offer as they had deducted any incapacity benefit and sickness pay he recieved from the amount awarded. He appealed and won.
The family member with the smashed knee still never received anything because he willingly stepped out the house. crazy.
Welcome to DS! First post and you are using the :rolleyes: already lol:D
It was 7 years before the compensation was finally accepted and released for my family member. It was a solicitor that took care of everything. Although I always thought the solicitor was a bit slow with things.
the police caught one of them but i couldnt claim anything as they dropped all charges because he claimed he didnt know the car was stolen. even though he was caught jumping out of the car and running by police 20mins after it was car jacked.
great justice system.
that's very unjust, you should have appealed, the CICA website says you can claim even if no one is convicted!
http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/compensation-schemes/cica/am-i-eligible/index.htm
Either way, it should be irrelevant for CICA, as the conditions for you getting compensation is to report the crime right away and receive medical treatment.
You can claim, as long as you reported it, it doesn't matter if the case went to court or not.
Give your local Victim Support branch a call, if you're unsure. They work with CICA all the time and can help you.