On April Fools Day (aptly named) 01/04/2009 I was out in Barnsley with a friend. I had had a lot to drink and a very good night. At the end of the night there was some sort of altercation where I was punched, fell and sustained a head injury from the pavement. I was unconscious for 4 hours or more and had the rest of that night and the next in Barnsley Hospital.

As part of my recovery I had to go through periods of depression, slurred speech, headaches and unresolvable tiredness. Victim Support contacted me and advised me as a matter of course to enter an application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) for compensation despite there being no arrests or suspects to the assault.

CICA is the government body responsible for administering the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in England, Scotland and Wales. They form part of the Ministry of Justice and also provide a service on behalf of the Scottish Government.

I filled in the forms with the Victim Support and entered my injuries and mental afflictions sustained after the incident. It has been quite a lengthy process and the CICA asked me for supporting information also writing to the Police, the Hospital and my Doctor.

Today I received an offer for compensation of £1500 of which I am planning to accept after speaking to Victim Support. This covers the amounts that I failed to pay on time when I was depressed but no more. I didn’t do this for the money, however I am pleased with the result and the award by the CICA helps to soften the blow (excuse the pun) lol

I feel that I have recovered adequately now to carry on with life in a positive manner and look forward to going out again in Barnsley. I won’t be drinking quite so much and I think I will be a little more guarded about the people around me, however; the experience has, in my opinion, been an important one!

Useful links:

http://www.cica.gov.uk/ Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)

http://www.victimsupport.org.uk/ Victim Support National website

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/ Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 11:30 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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