\u00a0<\/strong>severely disabling, leaving him unable to work with a poor prognosis for recovery. Kent Law Clinic argued this\u00a0warranted a higher award. Also, having left the UK, he had to pay substantial medical costs which fell to be compensated under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme as \u2018special expenses\u2019.<\/p>\nThe issue for the Law Clinic\u2019s team centred on establishing that their client\u2019s injuries were a direct result of the\u00a0crime of violence he had suffered. Based on their representations and further evidence submitted, the award offer was\u00a0increased to \u00a347,000. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) accepted the extent of the injuries but the\u00a0strict rules on payments for future loss of earnings\u00a0meant that no offer was made in this regard, and the amount awarded is unlikely to meet the lifetime of medical expenses the client will face.<\/p>\n
In a second CICA case, a\u00a0Law School student (now graduated) Adrienne Ford, again under the supervision of Dr Welsh, made the initial legal representations to CICA on behalf of a woman who was\u00a0a survivor of familial abuse\u00a0as a child and young adult. This client had originally been told by CICA that\u00a0she was not eligible\u00a0under the Scheme as she was outside the two year time limit for bringing a claim.<\/p>\n
The Law Clinic had to advise the client to\u00a0forgo her claim for the early years of abuse because these offences took place before 1979 because she would not have been eligible due to CICA scheme rules.\u00a0 The Law Clinic argued that the client was eligible as incidents had continued after she left the family home, and CICA eventually\u00a0agreed a settlement of \u00a327,500.<\/p>\n
Hannah Uglow<\/a>, Kent Law Clinic solicitor, continued to work on the cases with the assistance of student case workers last year. She said both cases illustrate how the\u00a0seemingly straightforward\u00a0Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, which is supposed to act as society\u2019s acknowledgement of a victim\u2019s suffering, often\u00a0puts up barriers to claims\u00a0which, without legal representation,\u00a0may be insurmountable. The historic abuse case took a year to prepare and then a further 16 months before a settlement was reached.<\/p>\n