Victim of unprovoked attack challenges exclusion from State compensation scheme

A man who suffered severe head injuries following an unprovoked attack after he left a pub has brought a legal challenge over his exclusion from a State scheme that compensates victims of violent crime.

Sean Ambrose claims the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal wrongly held that it could not assess his claim for compensation.

Last year the tribunal held that Mr Ambrose had failed to properly engage with it and had not provided it with the documentation it requires to process his claim.

His initial claim for compensation under the scheme was made in 2017.

Eric Clapton in Dublin review: guitar hero rocks the grey-haired faithful with a night of classics

---

‘I do God’: London mayor Sadiq Khan on religious faith, meeting the Pope and the fight to save the planet

---

Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft review – Her third album is not quite a genre bender, but this star is growing in sophistication

---

A student’s experience of renting outside Ireland: My landlord in the Netherlands said ‘I could stay forever’

---

However, he was not in a position to furnish other documents, including details of his loss and injury until 2021.

The tribunal also refused to allow him to appeal its findings.

In judicial review proceedings against the tribunal, Mr Ambrose claims the respondent has breached his rights to fair procedures and legitimate expectations.

He claims that he should have been given more time to make his compensation claim.

He claims that the Tribunal failed to take into account relevant factors including medical evidence that he has difficulties in processing his application due to his injuries.

The court heard that Mr Ambrose is a vulnerable person and required the assistance of others to provide the tribunal with certain materials as he had difficulty dealing with the paperwork.

The court was also told that important correspondence regarding his appeal of the tribunal’s finding was sent by the tribunal to Mr Ambrose’s former address.

Mr Ambrose, from Ballough, Newcastle West, Co Limerick, sustained serious injuries, including brain trauma, following an attack in his home town in August 2015.

His assailant was given an eight-year custodial sentence.

Mr Ambrose is seeking various orders from the court, including an order quashing the tribunal’s determination that the plaintiff failed to engage with it and that it was not possible for it to assess his claim.

He also seeks orders quashing the tribunal’s decision not to allow him to appeal that finding.

He further seeks an order remitting his claim for compensation back to the Tribunal for fresh consideration.

The matter came before Ms Justice Niamh Hyland, who on an ex parte basis, granted the plaintiff permission to bring his challenge.

The case will return before the court in November.