Foilsiú
23546 (17 January 2023)
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.
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: 23546
Date of incident: [ ]
Date of application: [ ]
Decision outcome: The application is declined as there is insufficient evidence of an injury which was sustained as a result of a crime of violence.
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 an address at [ ]. She said that she had been trying to contact the occupant of the house who did not give her entry. She gained access to the house having broken the bathroom window with a spanner. She said that she ascended to the bathroom windowsill where she announced that she was making a protest there. She said that it was then that her assailant ran at her with a hammer and hit her with it, catching her face and breaking her cheekbone. She said her assailant went away and then came back and hit her knee, and then somebody else came and beat her legs. After this a friend took her to obtain medical attention.
3. The applicant has submitted a large number of documents to the Tribunal Secretariat which detail other events and incidents in the applicant’s life (including a previous injury, treatment for potentially contested mental health issues, social workers and the care of her children, and engagements with the Legal Aid Board). While much of this does not appear directly relevant to applicant’s claim, tangentially it may have certain links. However there is no medical report on file in relation to the injury subject matter of the application.
4. Paragraph 20 of the Scheme (formerly para 21) states (with emphasis added):
"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".
5. In order to assess whether a late application is admissible therefore, the Tribunal must determine whether there are circumstances, which on its consideration, justify exceptional treatment. While there is a lack of clarity in the paperwork supplied, it is apparent that the applicant had multiple stressors in her life. The Tribunal finds that exceptional treatment of examining the complaint further is warranted.
6. However the Tribunal must be satisfied that the incident complained of was a criminal act of violence, and that it caused the injury complained of.
7. The applicant states that she reported the incident to the Gardai on [ ]. The Garda report received by the Secretariat on [ ] indicated that the Gardai was aware of an incident on [ ] by which the applicant required hospital treatment. However the report stated that the applicant had first stated that she had fallen. It appears that a subsequent complaint was made to the Gardai and medical records sought, and much later (in [ ]) the applicant gave the gardai consent to retrieve medical records. However at the date of the report they were unable to gain access to the reports and were unable to assess whether a criminal offence had occurred.
8. On [ ] the applicant wrote to the Tribunal Secretariat alerting them to brain confusion as a result of her injuries and particular needs that arose as a result. She sought a letter confirming that her treatment would be covered by the Tribunal and other payments. On [ ] the Tribunal Secretariat wrote indicating that it could not provide the payments requested, that the compensation could only be for injuries that fell under the Scheme, and that the Tribunal needed evidence of losses claimed. The applicant wrote again reiterating her requests in [ ].
9. On [ ] the Tribunal Secretariat wrote to the applicant seeking medical evidence of surgery which the applicant stated was required for her cheekbone, and for the glasses she was required to wear as a consequence of her injuries. This was in response to correspondence from the applicant in which she sought preliminary payments for treatment for injuries sustained.
10. Further correspondence on file pertains to an employment which the applicant said was affected by her injury, and responding the employer in question stating that it had no record of her employment. There is further correspondence on file setting out the applicant’s complaint to [ ].
11. On [ ] the Tribunal Secretariat wrote to the applicant asking whether she still wished to pursue her application. It appears that no reply was received to this letter.
12. While there is a lot of information on file, there is no medical report of an injury, and the garda view on whether there was an assault is inconclusive.
13. From the foregoing, the applicant has not established, on the balance of probabilities, that she was a victim of a crime of violence and sustained personal injury which is directly attributable to that crime of violence. This is because it does not appear that the Gardai found sufficient evidence to investigate a crime. It appears in particular that they were lacking medical evidence. Indeed, the Tribunal asked for, but did not receive from the applicant, medical evidence of her injuries. Without establishing either a crime of violence or an injury that was sustained as a result of it no claim can progress for analysis under the Scheme.
14. While noting that the applicant experienced a difficult set of circumstances, it is unable to go beyond the terms of the Scheme. The Tribunal must therefore decline the application for compensation in this case.
Tricia Sheehy Skeffington
Member, Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
17 January 2023