By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
A government scheme which pays compensation to victims of criminal injury is “far harder” for officers to access because violence is seen as part of their job, the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) has claimed.
The comments come as it emerged many officers have to go through appeals processes, which can take several years, to access money from the fund – including PC John Annand, whose leg was broken during an arrest in Forfar in 2021.
His attacker, Connor Collins, originally avoided a prison sentence, instead being ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work. But after breaking the community punishment, he was later given a 12-month custodial sentence.
PC Annand applied to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) – an executive agency sponsored by the UK Ministry of Justice – but had his application rejected initially as it was not deemed he had been criminally injured.
Caroline Macnaughton, secretary of the SPF’s north area committee, helped PC Annand with his claim, which was finally settled at the end of last year.
She said that police officers routinely struggle to get compensation when injured on duty because it is seen as “part of the job”.
As well as PC Annand, Macnaughton highlighted another case where an officer who suffered a head injury during an assault in September 2021 is still awaiting a decision about compensation after applying to CICA in April 2023.
She told 1919: “Any police officer that goes to CICA has to fight far harder to prove that what they’ve suffered is actually a criminal injury as opposed to it being seen as being part of their job.
“Officers can wait years to get any sort of compensation, and we always say when an officer applies to CICA that they will always get it rejected at the first instance, so be prepared to have to ask for a review of the case, which will probably also be rejected.
“After that, we are likely to seek advice from solicitors and consider an appeal.
“My assumption now is that every time I submit an application on behalf of a police officer that this is the process I will go through because the CICA never appears to accept the circumstances as a criminal injury.”
Caroline Macnaughton, Scottish Police Federation
The CICA is a UK-wide organisation set up to deal with compensation claims for victims of crime.
Awards range from £1,000 to £500,000 for people who have been mentally or physically injured, or sexually abused.
Those who caused the injury or abuse do not need to have been charged with or convicted of a crime – the authority is able to offer awards if the crime is reported to the police and there is enough evidence to show that the crime was committed.
It is understood PC Annand received two refusals over the eligibility of his claim, which he appealed, and the claim was subsequently re-sent to CICA to reconsider the criteria following a tribunal.
David Threadgold, chair of the SPF, said: “There is almost an acceptance now that police officers will be assaulted trying to serve our communities.
“As damaging as this situation is, when an officer is the subject of an assault that we believe meets the criteria for a claim through the CICA, the least that should be expected is a swift resolution of those matters.
“If the experience from our representatives suggests this is not the case, then a detailed review of the cause of this apparent pattern of extended delays should be undertaken to avoid this becoming the norm.”
Claims made to CICA do not have to be resolved within a set timescale, although the authority said 68 per cent of applications received a first decision within 12 months in 2023/24.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told 1919: “We sympathise deeply with all victims of violent crime and know compensation can aid them in their recovery.
“The majority of cases are decided within 12 months, but more complex cases can take longer to assess.”