Neighbour has been given bad advice?

[PuddingandPie1]

Our next door neighbours are a young married couple. The wife was the victim of a serious physical assault which resulted in a court case and the man being sent to prison. She has been told - sorry but I don't know who by - that she cannot sue the man for damages because of the double jeopardy rule. This doesn't sound right to me as any second case would be civil rather than criminal? Who is correct here?

That's bollocks. She can make a claim through the criminal injuries compensation scheme or bring a civil claim against him for personal injury.

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/criminal-injuries-compensation-authority

I agree, utter rubbish. She can sue her attacker although he may not have the money to pay damages, or she can make a claim via CICA although she must do this within 2 years of the assault.
The double jeopardy rule had been abolished and refers to not being tried twice for the same crime, so is not relevant in any event.

Thank you all for this information. I thought she had been told wrong information and it is good to have my concerns confirmed!