Maximum CICA award of £500,000 for blameless victim who is now wheelchair bound. Rob was out on a night out in Sheffield when he was assaulted. He was punched in the face and fell, hitting his head on the floor, which resulted in a brain injury. The Defendant was captured on CCTV reconstructing the assault with his friends and laughing.
He was taken by ambulance to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery on the brain to reduce the pressure.
Rob stayed in intensive care for 11 days before being transferred to a specialist neurological hospital. However, pressure on his brain began to increase again and he had an increased temperature.
Rob now needs 24 hour care as he is severely brain injured. He requires ongoing input from a physiotherapist and speech and language therapist.
He is wheelchair-bound, does not have any function of his arms or legs and is doubly incontinent. Rob cannot feed himself and so is fed through a PEG tube and receives all of his nutrition and fluid intake and his medicines through the tube.
As Rob was a blameless victim of a violent crime, his family instructed Potter Rees Dolan to submit an application through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
The Defendant who attacked Rob pleaded guilty to the offence of Grievous Bodily Harm without Intent. We were successful in obtaining a compensation award of £500,000 on Rob’s behalf which is the maximum award for CICA claims.
Amber Mitchell, Partner in the Serious Injury team at Hugh James, acted for Rob and said:
The assault upon Rob has had a devastating impact on his life and that of his family. The CICA have taken a disappointingly long time to agree with us that Rob’s injuries and ongoing care needs are of sufficient severity to warrant the maximum award of £500,000.
Now that the award has been made, this money will be spent on Rob’s behalf to enable his family and a team of professional carers to continue looking after him within the family home, which has been specially adapted. The money will also be used to fund the cost of the specialist equipment and therapy which Rob will require throughout his lifetime.
The names and identifying details of the client have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals involved.
