The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) which pays out compensation to the victims of crime is to continue paying awards directly to solicitors, taking the decision in the face of a possible judicial review challenge.

A young boy could be eligible for up to £27,000 in criminal injury compensation after he was attacked by another three year old boy in 2007.

Jay Jones was hit 11 times with a car jack and suffered a gash to his head. His claim was rejected twice before the ruling, as his attacker could not be prosecuted due to his age. The ruling in favour of awarding compensation came after solicitors argued that an attacker’s age was not relevant

Following a Parliamentary question by the Leader of the Opposition David Cameron, the government has released statistics on the performance and volumes associated with CICA claims. This data is rarely publicised and is very useful in determining how the CICA is managing its workload.