Abuse Survivors Blog

Sadly, the Coronavirus pandemic has caused countless families onto the mercies of benefits such as Universal Credit and other benefits with the possibility of thousands more following before the crisis is over.

We have been instructed by a victim who was sexually abused as a child whilst a resident at St Vincent’s Orphanage in Newcastle.

We have recently been instructed by a victim of Keith Hartle (deceased) who was a National Boating Officer in the Nautical Training Corps (‘NTC’). Our client was assaulted by Hartle over many years in the 1990’s.

We have recently been instructed by a victim of a former music teacher, Paul Johnson who was sexually assaulted by him over a period of many years.

If you, a friend or a family member have suffered a physical or psychological injury (or both) as a result of a violent crime, you may be entitled to compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. Compensation can range from £1,000 to £500,000.

Following the exposure of Jimmy Saville’s abuse in 2012 and the huge media attention that followed the public could be forgiven for concluding that in recent times sexual abuse is perhaps not quite as prevalent.

Recent televisions programmes have shone a light on the prevalence of female paedophiles: the current storyline in EastEnders which sees Mick Carter reliving the sexual abuse he suffered as a child by his social worker Katie, is a case in point.

A significant number of people suffer injuries in public places such as shops, restaurants, schools and parks. Many of these accidents are as a result of negligence or a breach of duty of care on the part of those who own and or control the premises and could easily be avoided.

For the majority of us we consider our GP or other medical professionals to be people who we can feel safe with when having a consultation. 

It would usually be around this time in a ‘normal’ year that Emmott Snell Solicitors would have taken part in the annual Bedford Legal, which is a 10K sponsored walk around Bedford organised by the Eastern Legal Support Trust.