By Sammie Jones-
Huge suspense surrounds a landmark case at the Court of Appeal involving a severely disabled man born from incest rape.
The Upper Tribunal ruled last year that the 29-year-old man who can only be identified as Y, was eligible for an award under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority Scheme. However, when Y tried to get compensation on the basis that he had sustained personal injury directly attributable to a crime of violence, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) rejected his application.
CICA said that Y could not be considered to be a victim of a crime of violence because he did not exist at the time of the incident of incestuous rape complained about, and therefore his condition was not a result of the crime of violence against his mother. That horrendous decision was defended by the First Tier Tribunal, but the upper Tribunal sent the case back to the CICA, which launched an appeal last month.
ABUSE
Y’s mother was abused from the age of 11 by her own father, and was born with a genetic disorder, epilepsy, severe learning and development difficulties, and hearing and sight problems. The string of diseases y inherited is long and heart breaking. Y’s grandfather pleaded guilty to incest in 1991 and was jailed for three years.
Today, Tuesday, Sir Brian Leveson, Lord Justice McFarlane and Lord Justice Henderson will give a final judgement on the case.
Ben Collins QC said that while it required consideration of complex and difficult issues of law, the authority remained acutely conscious that it arose out of “grave suffering” on the part of Y and, in particular, his mother.
Mr Collins said the Upper Tribunal’s reasoning was wrong and its decision flawed.
“The harm of which Y complains was done not when Y was in the womb, but in the very act of creating him.
“It is his own genetic make-up of which he complains.”
Y is a sad victim of his grandfather’s extreme perversion, and must be considered very unfortunate to even be having to fight for compensation relating to the disabilities caused by the violent rape of his mother. This example is one of those that highlight some of the serious problems Paedophilia can cause.