My colleague today wrote an article on this very same subject – dog attacks and the consequences they have on the lives of the victims involved. They seem to be quite common in the news recently, and today I came across a story of a violent dog attack in which the owner and his accomplices actually joined in the assault!
According to sources from The Mirror (source/), 41 year old Scott Lomas suffered severe injuries when he attempted to stop a Staffordshire bull terrier from fighting with a dog tethered outside a newsagents when this vicious and unprovoked assault began. The unleashed animal ran up to the tethered dog when the owner and his accomplices, rather than stopping the fight, approached the tethered dog and proceeded to kick it, according to the wife of the victim, Michelle. “My husband tried to stop them and told them to get their dog on a lead.” She said, “As he got in the car, they slammed the door on his leg. He confronted them. My husband was jumped on by one as all three moved towards him. He bit Scott’s face on the eyebrow, almost ripping it off.”
She went on to say “Two of them dragged his face down to the dog, which got hold of his cheek, leaving him with three lacerations. That was when I got hold of one of the lads but by this time the dog had got Scott’s arm and bit through to the bone.” A horrific story – and not just one of a dog attack, but the despicable assault of undisciplined youths and their actions that have left a father and husband with serious injuries. Police enquires in to the matter are ongoing, and according to the source the assailants involved have been located by police.
So, would there be a claim for compensation here? Well I expect their most certainly would! These types of unprovoked, violent acts of a criminal nature will more than likely fall in the category of a claim to be brought with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (or CICA) investigate and pay out compensation to the victims of unprovoked criminal assaults such as the example here. The reason is that the assailants will not have any insurance in place to cover themselves for a violent act towards another person – I’m sure there isn’t even such a thing in existence! So the CICA act as the other side in investigating claims and compensating the victims.
It’s possible to bring a claim against the actual owner of the dog in question; however this can end up becoming complicated if the owner does not have any form of pet insurance in place to cover themselves for these types of incidents. Plus the fact that in this case, a criminal assault did take place against the victim anyway, therefore the CICA’s involvement would be a necessity.
So, how do you go about making a claim with the CICA? Well, you can go it alone or get representation from an expert firm personal injury lawyers such as ourselves. The CICA are notoriously slow in investigating claims, and often, in the absence of legal representation, will attempt to under settle claims as the victim dealing directly will have no knowledge of how to value and research any offers received. So what we experts do is make the process much faster as we have extensive experience in dealing with the CICA, and we make sure to get the maximum compensation the victim is entitled to recover under the law – in every case!
So don’t hesitate to give us a call for some free, no obligation legal advice on claiming – we are always happy to assist with any personal injury enquiries you may have!
