Litigation: Criminal Injuries Compensation

If you have been the victim of a crime which has resulted in a physical or mental injury, you are entitled to make a claim to what is called the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.  The authority was set up in 1964 when it became apparent that an innocent victim of crime could suffer injury and incur financial losses but have no redress if the assailant turned out to be a man of straw (which is usually the case). 

Such claims do take very many months to process but, on the whole, the scheme is fair and of great benefit to the public. 

However, the Government made some amendments to the scheme in 2012 presumably, in this age of austerity, to cut down on public expenditure.  One amendment was to the effect that victims cannot claim compensation if they have an unspent criminal conviction which has resulted in imprisonment or a community service order.  On the face of it, this may seem equitable.  If you lead a criminal lifestyle, you should not be entitled to claim compensation from the tax payer if you are injured as a result.

However, this amendment has thrown up some very inequitable anomalies.

I have a client, Kirk Sharp, who falls into this category.  Kirk was abused by his parents.  As a result, the social work department placed him in the care of foster parents.  They, then, sexually abused him.  The foster father was convicted in Glasgow High Court in March of last year and sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment.  Kirk instructed me to make an application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.  The Authority, however, has refused compensation on the ground that Kirk has a couple of fairly minor previous convictions which resulted in community service orders.  Kirk explained to me that, as a result of the abuse, he had gone off the rails to some extent and had turned to drink and drugs.  It was while he was intoxicated that he had committed these offences.  It is obviously ironic that compensation for the abuse was refused because of the impact of the abuse itself. 

We lodged a review against the decision of the Authority but they replied that they had no discretion in this matter and could not change their mind.

I discussed the case with a prominent advocate who specialises in this area of law but he could not think of any legal remedy open to Kirk.  The only solution is for Parliament to change this law so that it does not affect victims who have committed offences directly related to the crime perpetrated against them.

I have several clients in this position who are urging their MPs and MSPs to effect a change in the law and they all hope that this will happen sooner rather than later.  Time will tell.

If you have been the victim of crime and wish to make a claim for Criminal Injuries Compensation, please contact any member of our Litigation team. The deadline for such claims is usually two years from the date of the incident which caused the injury so time is of the essence.