52122 (4 September 2023)

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: 52122

Date of incident: [ ]

Date of application: [ ]

Decision outcome: The applicant is awarded the sum of €9,650 under the Scheme.

1. [ ] (‘the applicant’) made a claim for compensation under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted (‘the Scheme’).

2. In his application for compensation under the Scheme, dated [ ], the applicant stated that he had suffered dental and facial injuries when he was assaulted in [ ].

3. An interim decision by a Tribunal Member (undated) found that the matter had been promptly reported the gardai and the Tribunal and made an interim award of €2,000. This award was accepted by the applicant on [ ].

4. The incident occurred on [ ] and the application was made within time, on [ ]. A Garda report dated [ ] generally corroborates the fact of the assault, injury and same-day reporting. The application was on the correct form and made within time.

5. From the foregoing, I am satisfied that the applicant has established, on the balance of probabilities, that he was a victim of a crime of violence and sustained personal injury which is directly attributable to that crime of violence.

6. Accordingly, I admit the application for consideration under the Scheme.

7. The Tribunal may make awards of compensation for expenses that are incurred as a consequence of the injury sustained by a crime of violence. This might cover the cost of treatment or loss of earnings. However the Scheme does not allow the Tribunal to make any award for general pain and suffering caused by the injury: Para 6(e) of the Scheme. It also does not allow for ‘double recovery’, which means that if compensation is made from another source it will not be duplicated by the Tribunal’s award.

8. In this case the applicant stated that he suffered facial and dental injuries caused by a head butt from his assailant. Through his solicitor he also indicated (on [ ]) that he had received €1,300 compensation from the perpetrator through the criminal process.

9. A receipt for €2,000 for dental treatment received to date in respect of the injuries caused by the assault, dated [ ], is on file. The interim award pertains to this payment. A letter to the gardai from the dentist in respect of the dental treatment is also on file, dated [ ]. This indicates that two teeth ([ ] respectively were luxated palatially and fractured. Further treatment was indicated on these teeth.

10. The applicant submitted a hand-written note from his dentist dated [ ]. This states that as a consequence of the damage to the applicant’s teeth he would continue to require implants and crowns on each. He stated that the crowns last 10 years and are replaced twice before new implants are required. This letter is somewhat difficult to read and it appears at one stage to refer to four crowns, which was more than it appeared was initially treated. However it states that as the applicant was [ ] at the time of the incident, and each crown costs between €650 and €1,000 per crown, and implants are €3,000 per unit, the dentist was of the view that the full cost of dental work caused by the assault would be approximately €18 - €20,000 over the applicant’s lifetime. The note very honestly observes that this is the dentist’s opinion and he ‘may be forecasting too little treatment or too much treatment’.

11. A brief updated note from the dentist was furnished, dated [ ]. This states that the applicant’s crowns continued to work satisfactorily, but that they would not last forever and that the report dated [ ] remained valid.

12. The Tribunal observes that 12 years post-incident the crowns appeared ‘satisfactory’ and as such the dentist may have indeed forecasted too much treatment in his initial report of [ ]. It appears to the Tribunal that the crowns will reasonably last for at least 15 years. As such, the number of replacements of crowns over the applicant’s lifetime is likely to be four times (including the first, already affected) plus one change of implants. After this a likelihood of unconnected dental treatment also arises.

13. Taking the calculated price of the crowns at the mid-point (and observing that this estimate was not updated a decade after it was first supplied) a reasonable price per crown is deemed to be €825. The forward-looking cost is therefore assessed by the Tribunal to be €4,950 for the crowns and €6,000 for the implants (€825 x 2 = €1,650; €1,650 x 3 = €4,950; 2 x €3,000 per implant). The total forward-looking cost of treatment is therefore assessed at €10,950.

14. Compensation already received in the sum of €1,300 must be deducted from this, however the €2,000 interim payment does not impact the award as it refers to past costs already incurred. The total award is therefore €9,650.

15. The Tribunal awards the sum of €9,650 in compensation for the criminally inflicted injuries sustained by the applicant on [ ] (an interim award of €2,000 for initial costs having already been discharged.

Tricia Sheehy Skeffington

Member, Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal

4 September 2023