Please advise: My son has been seriously assaulted. Do we need a solicitor?

[zoggs]

My son (age 20) was assaulted on Sunday. Front teeth knocked clean out. His face is a mess. He is going to need a bone graft to his jaw and at least 2 dental implants, possibly 4 - about 7-10 months of operations. The treatment is not available on the NHS so we have to pay privately and it will cost £5k-£10k.

Should we approach a solicitor to try and recover some of the costs and/or compensation. I am aware of the Criminal Injuries Board but I just don't know where to start and am still reeling from the shock. Fluctuating between anger and just being thankful it wasn't worse. The force of the blow was such that we think the assailant has broken bones in his hand. Crying as I type this as I can't believe it's happened.

It's just horrible isn't it zoggs? ds2 lost quite a bit of confidence after his assault. He'd been punched in the face a couple of years previously by some random youth whilst on his paper round and then he was attacked by a gang with a knife. He's off at uni himself now.

Zoggs i am so sorry for you and your son.He sounds lovely v like my ds gorgeous and dyspraxic but a bit of a baby your post has had me in tears it is one of my fears.i hope you get all the help support and advice you all need

So sorry this has happened to your lad. Can't add to the good advice you've had already but hope he recovers well very soon and gets all the treatment he needs.

So sorry zoggs What an awful thing to happen. I hope that your son recovers quickly.

Oh I am so sorry for you and your ds. What a ghastly thing. I am glad to hear he is a lot better. Uni will have services available to him if he needs help. Is he likely to take them up on what's offered? Just encourage him to do so.

Good luck on Friday. I am thinking of you both.

Your poor son, he sounds just like my dn - 6 feet 5, dyslexic and dyspraxic and a really gentle person. I'd hate to think of anything like that happening to him.

This happened to the DH of one of DH's colleagues, he was smashed over the head with an iron bar in an unprovoked assault and was in a coma for some weeks. He made an almost full recovery (but now has a metal plate in his head). They used cctv and witnesses to trace the assailant and he was convicted.

He got some compensation from CI but none from the assailant. You don't need a solicitor but you do need someone that is going to be vocal in their support, and dare I say it pushy. Make sure you keep his GP up to date with any ongoing medical problems, and use any network available - the university, victim support, CAB, whoever you can. Good luck.

God how terrible. Poor lad

I have no advice but surely there will be some compensation available.

So sorry for you all.

Zoggs, so sorry this has happened to your son. You must all be terribly shocked.

My ex boyf was badly attacked a few years ago. It was horrific, screws and plates in jaw, teeth smashed out, 5 operations to mend the damage, blood clots and head injuries. I have seen the photos and I couldn't look at them, he was unrecognisable.

But fast forward 3 years when I met him... He has 2 small scars and you would never know that it was the same guy in the photo. Infact you'd never know he'd had any surgery unless you looked closely for the 2 little scars near his ears and under his chin.

I guess what I'm saying is that your boy might look beaten now but the Drs wil do a good job and the scars will fade.

My ex had trauma counselling too, through the hospital which seemed to help. His attackers went to court and got a custodial sentence and he got a significant amount of compensation. His uni deferred him for a year whilst he had treatment and tried to come to terms with what had happened to him.

He's now a confident, sucessful and very attractive lawyer! (Spotty kicks self for binning him in a PMT rage!)

my brother was randomly attacked with a knife, he just heard footsteps running and then felt a punch to the face and the guy was off. he was steps from the front door, my mother was horrified to see that he'd been sliced open.
fortunately his eye was fine, by a matter of mm, and my brother was offered counselling etc. he didn't take it up as he actually felt it was completely random and nothing to do with his daily life, iykwim, however if i tell you that he's now a paramedic, having been so impressed with the care he got, you can see that it had an impact on him in its own way.

i'm sorry to hear about this, zoggs, and agree with telling the university. you must be proud of him for standing up for this girl.

Zoggs - I'm really sorry this has happened to your son. I am rather disappointed at the casual approach of the police (GMP?) to what is a serious assault. They don't need to wait for the attending officer to be back on duty to take a statement and you shouldn't have to travel to them for him to provide one considering his injuries. Even if you live in a different force area, they can ask that force to take the statement.

You should be contacted by victim support as a crime should already have been recorded and your details will be passed on, unless you specifically ask for them not to be.

I would contact the police force who are dealing with it and ask whether a crime has been recorded, ask whether victim support have been notified and ask them to send someone round to take a statement ASAP.

I have linked to the Victims Charter which tells you what you have a right to expect and it also tells you about compensation.

Thank you all so much. I'm sorry to hear of so much hurt. I have spoken to a legal helpline and been reassured that we have done all the right things and that legal representation will only be appropriate if we decide to make a private claim which may be pointless as the guy probably doesn't have any assets or even a job (just graduated).

I have spoken to uni and they were lovely. They are going to speak to his tutor and phone me back. DS has had to repeat his second year as he was only diagnosed with dyslexia/dyspraxia (and another obscure problem) 6 months ago. He studies graphic design so it is assessment based which may be a good thing. Just feel that everything is going wrong at the moment.

I also sobbed my heart out to a nice lady from our local Victim Support. So I feel a bit calmer now.

With regard to the police - they tried to speak to my son at the scene but he just wanted to get in the ambulance and he was very distressed. He phoned them back the same day to tell them he wanted to make a statement and was told someone would phone him back which they did the next day. By then he was back home, 100 miles away. It was agreed that he would go back to give a statement on Friday. I asked about giving a statement here and they said we could but it would then be referred back to Manchester. I thought it would be more straightforward to just do it all in Manchester with the officer who attended the scene. But now that means there is a delay in arresting the assailant. Here's another thing for me to worry about. I can feel the panic rising again now. What shall I do?

Well if you are happy to go to Manchester on Friday then that may be the best thing to do. I thought they had just expected that of you which I thought was rather inconsiderate. To be honest that would probably achieve a quicker result now than getting your local force to do it and send it on. It will also be good to meet the officer who will be dealing with it.

It is quite understandable that your son just wanted to get to hospital and TBH the police would be criticised if they tried to take a statement from someone with that level of injury.

Regarding the delay in arresting the assailant, are you fearful of reprisals? Does he live near you? Has there been any contact since the assault? If not, I would try not to worry, but impress on the officer on Friday your desire for the matter to be dealt with ASAP after these initial delays.

I hope your son recovers quickly and I hope you both get the help and support you need.

Thank you. I have to go to Yorkshire on Friday as I am in the middle of winding up my father's estate so we will pop over to Manchester easily enough.

The assailant lives very close to my son who is in uni halls. He lives with friends who are part of my son's social circle. He approached my son in casualty - he has possibly fractured his hand striking the blow - and tried to apologise. He has also told friends he is sorry but no other contact since. If he is arrested and bailed he will hopefully be too frightened to put a foot wrong. If is arrested and held in custody I would sleep more soundly. At present, he is 100 miles away so it is not an immediate worry.

Just had another thought. With regard to your son's dyslexia, would he be able to accurately read a handwritten statement? If not, you need to let the officer know and they would probably let you sit in to assist him. Hopefully your son would be happy with this, but you probably need to check all of this before you travel 100 miles!

Good idea. His reading is ok but I just assumed I would be in there with him! He also has a "auditory processing problem" so he has to read or listen to things several times to understand fully. You would never guess just by speaking to him hence the very recent diagnosis. We have adapted over the years to speak very literally to him without realising it was problem with a name. I will speak to the police and explain this to them. DS won't mind.

He is a lovely, caring person. And he still is and he will be beautiful again once we get his teeth sorted out. And I am so proud of him for sticking up for the girl and also for the way in which he is dealing with all this. He just wants his face back together again.

Yes, his wounds will heal, and he has proved himself to be a noble and decent young man - you should be proud.

Your poor son, I hope you are all able to come to terms with this and get the support that you need.

I just wanted to say with regard to the CICA, I was assaulted whilst at college over 10 years ago and broke my hand quite badly (no where near as serious as your son's of course), but as the attack was by school children, the police were reluctant to investigate it. They did however give me the forms for the CICA and despite not prosecuting the case, I received compensation for my injury. It wasn't too difficult to complete but there is a maximum amount that can be awarded for each injury so you will need to bear that in mind.

Good luck and best wishes to your son.

No advice, but I hope he recovers fast and is OK. I'm sure the small delay in giving a statement won't count against him - that would be so wrong. He sounds lovely.

Zoggs very sorry to hear this, it sounds incredibly distressing for all of you. Your DS was extremely brave in what he did. Unfortunately given the nature of what happened it's possible he is going to be traumatised to some extent and counselling may be a good idea in the short-to medium-term to give him a space to get angry, talk about how it is affecting him etc. His university should have access to a free counselling service (all Unis have them these days...) and it would be an idea to mention this - once he's left Uni it is much harder to access free counselling.

Thank you all. Thank you so much. It's all just sinking in now and he is so down today and so am I but I don't want to make him feel worse. I'm dreading all the appointments, operations, possible court case and just can't face it all right now. Feel so drained. Thanks to everyone here for helping me. You have all been so kind.

zoggs - you may find it doesn't go to court. If there are other witnesses and he admits it your son won't have to give evidence. My son's attackers initially denied it but then one of them admitted it and we were set to go to court for the other. On the day he changed his plea. To say we were relieved is an understatement.

Police have said I can accompany DS during his interview which is good but on another level I am dreading it as I will have to hear all the gory details. Due to his dyslexia/dyspraxia he tends to answer very literally and it is hard work getting the full picture because he just answers one question at a time -and doesn't expand the information. So far, we have just had the outline. Tomorrow, when the police question him I'm going to hear how close my son came to being killed.

Uni support service is great. Told him to concentrate on getting better first and will help him however he wants when he goes back. Help is extended to me too, including keeping an eye on him and reporting back to me when I'm sitting here 100 miles away, worrying. They are going to do a full risk assessment to ensure he can study in peace and enjoy being a student again.

So, with regard to my initial question it looks like we don't need a solicitor at this stage if at all. The guy who did this doesn't work and is facing a possible custodial sentence. I ask myself how I would feel if I was his mother and I feel so glad that I have my gorgeous, brave, gentle son.

I am sorry this has happend.

What I would say is along with the photographs - keep a diary of your sons feelings and the extra costs.

Have they said that they will do a video interview with him? It sounds like they will have to tease the information out of him, so it would be best practice to video this process, just so that no-one can allege that words were put in his mouth.

It is nothing to worry about, in fact the facilities are often a lot more comfortable than the average police station, just prepare him for the possibility.

I hope all goes well for you tomorrow .