53979 (13 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: 53979

Date of incident: [ ]

Date of application: [ ]

Decision outcome: Application refused pursuant to Paragraph 13 of the Scheme.

1. [ ] (‘the Applicant’) has made a claim for compensation under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted (‘the Scheme’). The Applicant has submitted a completed application form in respect of his claim which was received by the Tribunal on [ ].

2. The Applicant was involved in two separate incidents on [ ] in [ ]. The Applicant has not provided any account of what occurred but it appears that the Applicant became involved in an incident outside a public house in [ ] and, shortly thereafter became involved in another ‘related’ incident where he was struck in the face by [ ] and suffered personal injuries.

3. Gardaí were called and the matter was investigated but no suspects were identified and no prosecution ensued. The Applicant has not received any compensation for his injuries.

4. Paragraph 13 of the Scheme states:

‘No compensation will be payable where the Tribunal is satisfied that the victim was responsible, either because of provocation or otherwise, for the offence giving rise to his injuries and the Tribunal may reduce the amount of an award where, in its opinion, the victim has been partially responsible for the offence.’

5. The Applicant has not provided any details in respect of this incident, so the Tribunal relies on the Garda report dated [ ] in respect of what occurred. It is not clear if the Applicant made a statement to Gardaí but, if he did, he has not provided it to the Tribunal pursuant to Paragraph 2 (d) of his application form. The Garda report was obtained by the Tribunal and the applicant has been sent a copy. The Applicant has not sought to challenge the report or to comment on its content in any way. Therefore, the Tribunal must infer that its content is accepted by the Applicant.

6. Paragraph 5 of the Garda report states:

‘The injured party had alcohol taken and was outside Public House [sic] as Patrons were leaving, he got involved in an argument with unknown males. A short time later about [ ] away he became involved in related incident [sic] where a [ ] was thrown and struck him on face. He then went home but later attended [ ] Hospital with his injuries. His complaint was investigated but culprits have not been identified.’

7. In the circumstances the Tribunal must accept the following facts: the Applicant had been drinking and the appears to have got involved in two separate arguments, one outside a public house and a second a short time later nearby which was ‘related’. The Applicant has not provided any evidence to support an alternative narrative of events. The Tribunal must therefore decide on the balance of probabilities whether the Applicant was responsible for the offence giving rise to his injuries.

8. Taking all the available evidence into account the Tribunal decides that it is probable that the Applicant was responsible for the offence giving rise to his injuries and therefore refuse to admit the application for consideration under the Scheme. It should be noted that in the absence of any evidence provided by the Applicant it was not open to the Tribunal to engage in any apportionment of responsibility as per the second part of Paragraph 13.

9. The Tribunal therefore has no alternative but to refuse to admit the application under Paragraph 13 of the Scheme.

10. N/A.

11. N/A.

12. N/A.

13. Nil.

Marc Murphy

Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal

13 September 2023