Criminal Assault

Under Common Law, assault is defined as “an intentional act by one person that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent harmful or offensive contact”. In other words, anyone who threatens or attempts a physical attack on another person and appears capable of causing bodily harm is guilty of assault. Theoretically, no physical contact is necessary – although, obviously, most assaults do involve physical contact of one form or another – and a threatening movement, such as shaking a fist, is enough to constitute assault.

It is a sad fact that thousands of people up and down the country are the victims of assault, often by people they know, with many of these cases leading to criminal injury claims. Criminal injury, or criminal assault, claims in England, Scotland and Wales fall under the auspices of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), which has some fairly strict rules regarding eligibility for compensation. For example, you must have been injured sufficiently seriously to qualify for the minimum compensation available, received documented medical attention for your injuries and reported the assault to the police within 48 hours.

If you fail to satisfy all the conditions laid down by the CICA – and there are often valid reasons for doing so – it does mean that you are, necessarily, ineligible for compensation. What may be useful in more complex cases, however, is a personal injury lawyer who can explain the intricacies of your particular case to the court and obtain as much compensation as you are entitled to.