CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION BOARD
Adjudicator: James Graham
Date: April 17, 2019
Indexed as: (Re) 1710-03207
DECISION
Introduction
1The Applicant applied to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) seeking compensation for an injury resulting from a crime of violence. The Applicant is seeking the following forms of compensation: medical expenses, treatment expenses, pain and suffering, and loss of income.
Decision
2In accordance with the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act, RSO 1990, c.C24, as amended (CVCA), the CICB grants the Application and awards the Applicant $6,000.00 for pain and suffering and $167.74 for medical expenses. The reasons for this Decision follow below.
Hearing
3The Applicant was served by mail with Notice of Hearing at his last known address. The Notice advised the Applicant that the hearing would take place at 1:30 PM on March 8, 2019 at 45 Main Street East in the City of Hamilton. The Applicant did not show up at the appointed time but when contacted by telephone advised the CICB that he was prepared to have the application heard in his absence.
4The CICB, pursuant to section 7(1) of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S-22., as amended, is entitled to proceed in the absence of the Applicant without any further notice. Therefore, the hearing was conducted in writing on the basis of the materials contained in the Applicant’s file.
Evidence
5The Applicant is a taxi driver. In September, 2017 the Offender approached the Applicant’s cab while it was parked at the roadside and pulled at a side window causing it to shatter. The Offender additionally attacked the Applicant with a knife. Although the Applicant was not stabbed, the Offender tried to gouge the Applicant’s eyes and bit the Applicant’s thumb.
6The police confirm details of the attack and that the Applicant was transported by ambulance to hospital. The Offender has since been convicted of assault causing bodily harm.
7The Applicant states that he was unable to get stitches because of the condition of his thumb but was referred to a plastic surgeon for plastic surgery. He says that his eyes were bruised and swollen, he had scratches on his face, teeth marks on his arm swelling in his groin from being kicked and neck pain, headaches, dizziness and nausea as a result of the assault. He also says that since the assault he has constant fear and has not been able to drive in the downtown area. He is afraid of being out at night, is hypervigilance, has trouble sleeping and worries about contracting a disease as a result of the assault.
8The Applicant says that he has not been able to return to work as of the date of the Application, which was three days after the assault. He says that he made about $150 on an average workday and $200 on an average weekend day.
9The Applicant has provided no medical reports and no documentation with respect to his income.
Analysis
Crime of Violence
10A conviction is conclusive evidence that a crime of violence occurred. As there was a conviction in this case, the Applicant is required to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that his injuries resulted from the crime of violence.
11Without medical records, it is difficult to determine the extent of the Applicant’s injuries. He was viciously attacked with a knife, but his injuries came from an attempt to gouge his eyes and a bitten thumb. I accept that he was referred to a plastic surgeon, but there are no medical records to show what the plastic surgeon had to do. I accept his statement that he had facial scratches, a bite mark on his arm, swelling in his groin, headaches, dizziness, nausea, fear and trouble sleeping. Without some medical evidence to support prolonged difficulty, I find that the injuries were not permanent or long lasting, but certainly not transient in nature. I also find that he lost work for a short period of time due to the injured thumb.
Compensation
Pain and Suffering
12In assessing the claim for pain and suffering I considered the matters referred to in the previous paragraph and award the Applicant the sum of $6,000.00.
Expenses and Income loss
13The Applicant must provide reliable evidence to support the claims for:
expenses actually and reasonably incurred as a result of injury
income or pecuniary loss incurred as a result of his total or partial disability affecting his capacity for work
14The Applicant's claim for expenses is allowed in the amount of $167.74. The Applicant has provided receipts for prescription drugs in that amount. Other claims for medical expenses are not allowed because the Applicant has not provided receipts to support them.
15The Applicant’s claim for the cost of repair of damage to the taxi is not allowed because the CICB does not have authority to compensate for property damage.
16The Applicant’s claim for loss of income is not allowed because the Applicant has not proved medical evidence showing the period of his disability or any documentation showing that he was employed and that his net income was in the amount claimed.
Award
17The CICB orders compensation as follows:
Subsection 7(1)(d) Pain and Suffering $ 6,000.00
Subsection 7(1)(a) Expenses $ 167.74
Total Award $ 6,167.74
Payment
18The CICB orders the following be paid immediately to:
Applicant $ 6,167.74
Dated at Toronto on April 17, 2019
James Graham, Board Member