Mother Knocked Unconscious Encouraged To Take £150 Compensation By Police

A woman who was beaten unconscious by another woman while on a night out was offered £150 compensation and encouraged to take it so that police did not have to issue a caution. Police have defended the caution, although did not comment on the compensation offer, while the Centre of Crime Prevention claim that police do not have enough confidence that criminals will receive justice if they go to courts so rely heavily on the use of cautions.

Hayley Clayton was enjoying her first night out since the birth of her daughter and was out with her husband and work friends when she was attacked by another woman. The woman ran up, hit Mrs Clayton in the side of the head, and then ran away with her male companion. Friends called an Ambulance while Mr Clayton attempted to chase after the woman, to no avail.

Mrs Clayton was knocked unconscious during the attack and says that the next thing she remembers was waking up in Peterborough hospital. She required ten stitches to treat the injury to her head and was forced to take a week off from her job. Mrs Clayton works as a team leader in a flower factory. Her husband John works as a site co-ordinator at the same company location. They were out with work colleagues on the night of the attack.

Following the attack, the police contacted Mrs Clayton to tell her that they had apprehended the attacker. They asked her to accept a compensation payment of £100, stating that cautioning the attacker would be a waste of taxpayers’ money. Following a refusal to take the token amount, the police informed her of an increased offer of £150. Mrs Clayton declined this second offer saying that they wanted the woman to be prosecuted.

The South Wales Police have said that they use cautions as a means of deterring first time offenders and to punish criminals without having to go to court. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson has said that there will be a review into the use of all out of court disposals which would include the use of caution.

CICA Criminal Injury Claims Road Traffic AccidentsNov 20th, 20130 comments