CICA and the way it can impact you – Part 4: A night out

ARTICLE BY: Daryl Smith

In the final part of my series of articles, I thought it appropriate to take a look at one of the situations in which criminal injuries occur frequently – the infamous ‘night out’.

Fuelled by alcohol and a sense of false bravado, individuals gain the confidence to prey on other drunken people who have no intention of causing trouble. From petty attacks to sexual assaults, the effects that these incidents can have on people can be huge, both physically and psychologically.

An incident that made national news recently was the assault of Strictly Come Dancing pro AJ Pritchard and his younger brother while they were enjoying a night out in Cheshire. AJ and his brother Curtis, a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars Ireland, were attacked in a nightclub.

While AJ suffered mostly superficial injuries, Curtis had to undergo knee surgery. While the extent of the knee injury is unknown to the press, fractures, dislocations and removal of the patella are all compensable under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority’s (CICA) tariff. The CICA is a government funded scheme that aims to compensate blameless victims of violent crimes.

When talking about nights out, there are incidents in which severe injuries arise as a result of scuffles or fights, this is where the CICA draw particular attention to the phrase ‘blameless victims’. An award may be withheld or reduced where the conduct of the applicant before, during or after the incident giving rise to the criminal injury makes it inappropriate to make an award or a full award. Conduct does not include the process of intoxication through alcohol or drugs however the conduct while intoxicated is included. If there is any confusion about whether your conduct may affect a claim, the best way to clarify this is to submit your enquiry to a solicitor.

Of course, not all incidents garner as much publicity as the one above. The unfortunate truth is that occurrences like this happen on a regular basis. Natalie Howes, a 22-year old from Weymouth, was viciously assaulted after asking a stranger for a cigarette paper on a night out.

Miss Howes had popped outside of a club at 11pm for a cigarette when she realised she had run out of paper. She approached a group of girls and politely enquired whether they could spare any paper. She was taken aback by their response as she was angrily told to ‘f off’. When Miss Howes began to walk away, she heard footsteps behind her and suddenly she was struck with the heel of a stiletto by the woman that had been rude just moments prior. She was left with a huge gash on her face, just 1 cm away from blinding her. The wound required 5 internal stitches and 5 external stitches.

Miss Howes applied to the CICA with regards to her injuries after she was told her attacker had been let off with a caution. A year after the gruesome attack, she received £2,500 in compensation for the scarring she had been left with.

Luke Evans, 22, from Salford was also left with severe scarring, both physically and mentally after a 17-year-old boy slashed him to the face after a night out in Eccles town centre. Mr Evans, an aspiring boxer was having a ‘good natured night out’ before sustaining ‘staggeringly horrific’ injuries. He suffered multiple gashes to his face and had to undergo counselling as a result. As with Miss Howes, an application to the CICA would have seen Mr Evans receive a figure of at least £2,500 for his wounds, with a potential further award for his psychological injuries.

While on a stag do in Newquay, Kevin Keenan was punched in the face while he went to take a drink from his pint glass due to the jealousy of a woman’s partner. This assault resulted in the loss of his front tooth – an injury which is compensable at the value of £1,500 by the CICA.

The CICA also compensates those who suffer harrowing sexual assaults and a night out can be ideal for an opportunistic sexual predator to make their move. Najirul Miah, 20, and Syed Ahmed, 21, were parked outside a takeaway in Sunderland when an alleged victim asked them for a lift, believing them to be driving an unlicensed taxi. Prosecutor Paul Cleasby told Newcastle Crown Court last month that the woman had become separated from her friend in the early hours of the morning.

The Court heard that the men told the woman that she did not have enough money to pay for them to take her all the way home and took her handbag off her, before informing her she would have to pay for the ‘fare’ by carrying out sexual acts on them.

The woman said once the men had driven her to “the middle of nowhere”, they took it in turns to rape her in the back of the car before throwing her out of the car and leaving her alone, scared and miles from home. While compensation may be the last thing in the mind of someone who has suffered an ordeal such as this, it is important to note that there may be an entitlement to money that could aid a survivor in their recovery. In this instance, the CICA have provisions to compensate victims of multiple rapes at the value of around £13,500.

As this series of articles have demonstrated, the CICA is an available outlet for an assortment of occurrences that happen unexpectedly in all walks of life. Awareness of the scheme remains low and it is important to note that, when the devastating incidents documented in this and previous articles transpire, there may be an entitlement to compensation for the trauma that an individual has suffered.

BBC Newsbeat Source

Mirror Source

Daily Mail Source

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