50436 (13 May 2022)

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: 50436

Date of incident: [ ]

Date of application: [ ]

Decision outcome: No award under para 16 of the Scheme: compensation already received exceeds claimed expenses.

1. [ ] (‘the applicant’) has 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 injuries at a nightclub in [ ] in the early hours of [ ], when he was assaulting in an attempt to break up an argument. It appears that after a few punches were thrown the applicant was glassed in the face.

3. A garda report on the file records that the applicant was a victim of an assault on the date in question, and that his assailant was convicted of assault under section 3 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. It is important to not that in court the offender paid the applicant [ ] in compensation.

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

5. The applicant submitted invoices for medical invoices and loss of earnings. The loss of earnings claim appeared to be in the region of €748.74. Medical fees included attendance at A&E (€60) and an optician’s fee of €20.

6. On [ ] the Tribunal’s Secretariat wrote to the applicant’s solicitor noting paragraph 16 of the Scheme, which states that the Tribunal will deduct from any claim the amount paid to the victim by way of compensation or damages by the offender. It pointed out that the [ ] received from the offender exceeded the sums claimed in the application. No response was received to this letter, and a follow-up enclosing previous correspondence was sent on [ ]. This stated that if no response was heard before [ ] the file would be sent for decision. No reply was received.

7. In this case the total claim is less than €1,000. The applicant however has received [ ] from the offender by way of damages or compensation. As this claim must be deducted from any award made by the Tribunal, no award can be made in this case.

Tricia Sheehy Skeffington

Member, Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal

13 May 2022