Criminal Injuries Tribunals Service decide toddler was the victim of a crime of violence

Over the weekend I read at Sky News about the case of Jay Jones who was repeatedly hit with a carjack by a fellow three year old when they were left alone in the back of a car. His mother had applied for criminal injuries compensation on his behalf only for this to be twice rejected both upon initial application and upon review.

Last week the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority Tribunal Service ruled that he should be awarded compensation under the CICA scheme.

The initial decisions not to award compensation were made on the basis that Jay had not been the victim of a “crime of violence” as the attacker was of an age where he could not be criminally prosecuted. The age of criminal responsibility in England being 10.

The criminal injuries scheme is a government funded scheme designed to compensate people who have suffered injuries as a result of violent crimes. The scheme is quite stringent and as a lawyer who deals with criminal injuries claims I am well aware of the strict adherence to the rules by the case managers both at the initial application and the review stage. The eligibility rules are generally applied rigidly and decisions by the authority not to make awards can in many cases seem very unfair.

I am glad that the Tribunals Service has ruled in Jay’s favour. I think the CICA were wrong to reject his application in the first place. Paragraph 10 of the scheme clearly states not only that it is not necessary for the assailant to have been convicted of a criminal offence but also that “even where the injury is attributable to conduct…of which the assailant cannot be convicted of an offence by reason of age…the conduct may nevertheless be treated as a criminal act”

I can only presume that the initial decision makers decided that a three year old repeatedly hitting another three year old with a heavy object was not a ‘criminal act’. To some extent this is a matter of opinion, but I think perhaps in this case the seriousness of the injury that Jay sustained rightly affected the Tribunals Services decision as to whether it did constitute a criminal act that should be recognised by the scheme.

Jay is lucky that he had the advice of a solicitor who knew about the scheme and helped him pursue the matter to the Appeal stage. Many people do not instruct solicitors and put in the applications themselves, but this case clearly illustrates the benefit of having a solicitor or other legal adviser involved.

Should you require any advise about a criminal injuries claim call our specialist solicitors on 0800 0384 384 during business hours and we can review your compensation claim for free while you are on the phone. If you prefer you can contact us by e-mail.