Re An Application Under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1983 and Cr [1994] ACTSC 86 (1 September 1994)

SUPREME COURT OF THE ACT

IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION UNDER THE CRIMINAL INJURIES
COMPENSATION ACT 1983
AND CR
No. CIC258 of 1993
Number of pages - 3

COURT

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
MASTER A HOGAN

HEARING

CANBERRA, 25 August 1994
1:9:1994

Counsel for the Applicant: Mr K Bradley

Instructing Solicitors: Clayton Utz

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr K Holmes

Instructing Solicitors: ACT Government Solicitor

ORDER

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
1. Publication of any particulars likely to lead to the

identification of the applicant or of the offender be prohibited.
2. Compensation be awarded to the applicant in the sum of $21,162.00.

DECISION

MASTER A HOGAN This is an application for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1983.

2. On 4 March 1994 GMH was committed for trial in this Court on charges that he, on 22 May 1993, recklessly inflicted actual bodily harm on the applicant, that he intentionally and unlawfully used against the applicant an offensive weapon likely to endanger life, namely a knife, and that he assaulted the applicant.

3. GMH has not yet been tried. The applicant is likely to be a witness at the trial. I therefore make an order prohibiting the publication of any particulars likely to lead to the identification of the applicant or of GMH.

4. The applicant is a single man aged 27. Early on the morning of Saturday 22 May 1993 he went with a friend to the Hungry Horse Tavern at Weedon Close. A fight broke out between GMH and another man. The applicant stepped in between them and persuaded the other man to stop and to leave the Tavern with him. As the applicant turned to go back inside GMH stabbed him in the thigh with a knife. At first he did not realise what had happened, but as the pain soon increased he looked more closely and saw the wound. Although it was not bleeding heavily he decided that he would need treatment. As he and his friend were leaving they saw GMH and another man assaulting the man who had previously been in the fight.

5. He intervened again, because of the violence of their attack. He was attending to the unconscious victim when the police and ambulance arrived. Another ambulance arrived, and an officer attended to the wound in his leg.

6. The ambulance took him to Woden Valley Hospital, where the wound was cleaned and sutured. The hospital recorded that the stab wound was to the left mid-lateral thigh, extending to fat depth only, with no muscular or fascia involvement. The applicant was sent home.

7. The stitches were removed on about 29 May. The wound became infected. He went back to the hospital, where the wound was cleaned and a sterile dressing was applied.

8. GMH was arrested, but was released on bail on 24 May 1993. The applicant was in a state of extreme anxiety.

9. The wound became extremely painful, and the pain lasted for three or four months, restricting his activities. He attended constantly at the hospital for dressings. It has now healed, leaving a scar. The site of the wound is sensitive, and associated with an area of numbness.

10. The applicant was aware that GMH had a reputation for uncontrollable violence, which was consistent with his behaviour on the night of the assault. He was terrified for his own safety and that of his mother and younger brother.

11. He became withdrawn. His sleep was disturbed. He became nauseous and lost weight. His solicitors referred him to Dr Jan Ewing, clinical neuropsychologist, for assessment and treatment. She saw him first on 15 June 1993, and again on 18 June 1993.

12. He presented to her as an extremely anxious man, who was in a state of moderate panic for much of the first interview. He did not want to use medication and did not continue with the counselling suggested to him.

13. Her diagnosis was of an adjustment disorder with anxiety, and she assessed his symptoms as severe.

14. At his solicitors' request, he saw Dr Ewing again on 3 May 1994. Although he was less agitated he continued to present as extremely tense, overwrought and angry. He described his life to her, and in evidence, as that of a hermit. His only relaxation is motor cycle riding, out of Canberra. He has taken many days off work, unpaid, after expending his sick leave entitlements. His relationships at work have deteriorated.

15. In summary, Dr Ewing reported that he presents with improved but continuing psychological sequelae from his stabbing and subsequent belief that his life was in imminent danger. He was less acutely anxious than when she last saw him, but remained very tense, hyper reactive, angry and socially withdrawn. His adjustment disorder was still serious.

16. Dr Ewing expects many of his symptoms to subside when and if his assailant goes to prison, but he may be left with some relatively permanent changes in his interpersonal functioning.

17. The wound was not a minor cut, and because it became infected it took months to heal, with associated discomfort.

18. His psychological symptoms were severe, continue to be serious, and will be serious until after the court proceedings are concluded. There is no certainty that they will then subside.

19. For his pain and suffering I award $20,000. The expenses of bring the application were $1,162.

20. I award compensation to the applicant of $21,162.