Foilsiú
51668 (19 September 2022)
Ó Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Ó Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted - General Scheme
Single Member Decision
Application of [ ]
Application number: 51668
Name of applicant: [ ]
Date of incident: [ ]
Date application received: [ ]
Decision: No award.
The Applicant applied to the Tribunal arising from an incident which occurred on the night of the [ ] at [ ]. The Applicant was [ ] in the arrest of a male who was pursued and arrested inside a house for the offence of dangerous driving. As they exited the house, the Applicant was walking in front of the arrested man and [ ].
As he exited the doorway he felt bumped from behind, which pushed him outwards onto the front step. The ground conditions outside were icy. The Applicant slipped off the step outside and his left foot landed down on [ ] causing him to fall and go over on his left ankle and suffer a fracture and ligament damage to the ankle.
The incident in this case involved an arrest by An Garda Siochana and was the subject of normal reporting procedures at [ ] Garda Station. The Applicant subsequently made a formal statement regarding the incident. The incident whereby the Applicant sustained the injury was deemed an accident and not one that was the result of any malice on the part of the arrested person. No civil or criminal proceedings arose and the Applicant has not received payment of compensation in the matter at any time.
The General Scheme provides that the Tribunal may pay compensation for out-of-pocket expenses in respect of personal injury, where the injury is directly attributable to a crime of violence, subject to the provisions of the Scheme. Amounts claimed must be vouched and/or supported by appropriate documentation. The Tribunal is entirely responsible for deciding in any particular case whether compensation is payable under the scheme.
Paragraph 21 of the General Scheme (pre-April 2021) states that “Applications should be made as soon as possible but, except in circumstances determined by the Tribunal to justify exceptional treatment, not later than three months after the event giving rise to the injury”. In this case the application was received on the [ ] and was outside the specified time period.
Paragraph 2(f) of the Application Form states “If it over three months from date of incident to date of submission of application, please give reasons for delay as requires under Article 21 of the Scheme”. In reply, the Applicant stated “As I was out of work, I didn’t know how to make contact. I asked several people, but they also didn’t know. I came across the number in a phonebook [ ] by accident. Also, I believed I had 6 months within to submit a claim”.
The Applicant was the victim of a crime of violence which occurred on the [ ] in [ ] when he sustained personal injury.
The incident described by the Applicant was an unfortunate incident giving rise to a significant injury, however it could not be considered a crime of violence and appears a very unlucky and unfortunate accident that falls outside the ambit of the scheme.
In the circumstances, the Tribunal makes no award.
Dated the 19th day of September 2022.
Cathal Lombard
Tribunal Member