I have been assaulted

Definition of assault:

Inflicting intentional or reckless harm towards another individual is the general definition of assault. We are available to provide confidential legal advice but you may also be able to get support from a charity such as Victim Support.

 

If the assault has just taken place, you need urgent medical attention, or you are in immediate danger you need to call the emergency services (999). If you are 16 or younger, you may want to speak to an adult you trust like a teacher at school and tell them what has happened before contacting the police. If this has happened more than once, please inform the police when you report it, it’s important you provide details of other times this has happened.

 

When you report the incident, make sure you tell the police any details you have about the person such as age, gender, height, build, skin colour, and the clothing they were wearing. Distinguishing features such as tattoos, piercings, and details of the car they are driving also help the police to identify the perpetrator.

 

Any injury may result in a claim, you should try and find witnesses and get their details and wherever possible take photographs of the area, making sure you focus (no pun intended) on the potential reason for the assault. Whether it was a knee-jerk reaction, planned or fuelled by alcohol etc will all be determining factors. we would then suggest you seek medical attention by attending Accident and Emergency, again make sure you note any medical treatment given and who it was administered by. Not all injuries present themselves immediately, they may feel fine at the time but start to suffer a few days later, symptoms may include bruising, pain or delayed shock. Depending on the severity of the injury.

 

This is affecting my mental or physical health

Please consider contacting your GP or doctor if the assault has affected your health in any way. It is important to make sure that you speak to somebody about it. You can also contact Victim Support for specialist help and advice. Victim Support is an independent charity that specifically helps people affected by crime and traumatic events. They are not part of the police or any other criminal justice agency.

 

How we can help

If appointed we would appoint a medical professional to evaluate the situation, their report will detail any injuries and the general prognosis. The expert’s report will form the basis of any claim and your caseworker will discuss their findings with you. If the attacker can be proven we would seek to work with the police to prevent duplication of reports etc. The police will look at the criminal aspect whilst we would look at the civil side. In effect this means claiming for damages (compensation), obviously this is far easier if they have been found guilty. As part of the compensation claim we would also include specialist costs so that you can receive face to face help from our appointed counsellors, physiotherapists etc.

 

If your accuser is found to be guilty, we would immediately ask the court to freeze any assets and bank accounts to ensure that these could not be diminished in their worth. Our next stage would be to file a claim for damages (financial compensation). If we could attribute the assault to while the attacker was at work (such as an assault whilst in a care home, hospital, school) etc then we would also consider claiming under their insurance.

 

You can claim damages (compensation) in one of three ways: -

1 - Direct from the attacker

This is preferable as it gives a direct punishment for the crime, you have 3 years to bring a financial claim.

• There is no upper limit of the sum the court could allow;
• You can claim a loss of income (CICA has a 28-week window); and
• the courts prefer his approach as there is no cost to the public purse and is at the direct detriment of your attacker.

 

2 - Under the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority (CICA)

When claiming from the CICA, the funds would be coming from the public purse, meaning there would be no direct loss to the attacker’s assets. You must also submit your application to CICA within 2 years to bring a claim. You can only claim if you are incapable of working for more than 28 weeks before you can make a claim.

 

3 - From an employer

If the offence occurred at work, then we may be able to claim off the employer’s insurance, whilst this means that there is little damage to your attacker personally insurance companies have far deeper pockets than individuals.

 

To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link. Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.