A woman who survived a brutal stabbing while eight months pregnant has described how the fight for compensation from a government authority compounded her trauma, amid mounting calls for a complete overhaul of the system.
'Horrendously complex' process adds to suffering
Natalie Queiroz, 49, was attacked in Sutton Coldfield in 2016, sustaining 24 stab wounds during a nine-minute assault. Her partner attempted to murder her and her unborn child. Both she and her daughter, born prematurely due to the attack, required life-saving surgery.
Ms Queiroz, now the West Midlands Victims' Advocate and an MBE recipient, subsequently applied to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) on behalf of them both. She condemned the "horrendously complex process" which forces applicants to rank their own injuries.
"You end up in this situation of how do I rank them?" she explained. "Then there's often psychological elements, I'm literally writing out all my injuries, but you have to pick your top three."
Her injuries have had long-term consequences, including a finger amputation and deteriorating health. "I've had pneumonia four times since then due to my lungs being unable to clear any chest infections," she said.
System in crisis with years-long delays
The CICA, established in the 1960s to provide redress to victims of violent crime, is facing severe criticism. Its latest annual report reveals that nearly one in five applicants wait over two years for a decision, with some facing delays exceeding five years.
Furthermore, more than a third of the authority's decisions that went to appeal were successfully overturned. Complaints to the body have more than doubled in a year.
Labour MP Laurence Turner, who represents Birmingham Northfield, is leading a group of a dozen MPs backing a Private Member's Bill demanding a "fundamental" examination of the system. Mr Turner, who himself waited nearly two years for his own CICA claim to be settled after a pre-pandemic assault, described a "typical experience" of impersonal contact and inadequate outcomes.
"By the time you get to the end of that exhausting process where you've had to repeat and relive some really quite traumatic experiences, lots of victims just want the process to be over," he told the Press Association.
Calls for reform ignored as backlog grows
The Ministry of Justice has blamed an "unprecedented volume of applications" for the delays. A spokesperson said CICA is recruiting more staff and improving communication processes.
However, this response has failed to satisfy critics. The late Baroness Newlove, the former Victims' Commissioner who died in November, condemned the scheme before her death, noting the government had refused to modify it five years after launching a consultation on reforms.
Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones recently announced she would not implement the inquiry's recommendations, arguing that changes to help some victims, such as those of child sexual abuse, could "be detrimental to other deserving victims of crime".
Alex Mayes of Victim Support emphasised the need for fundamental change: "We definitely need to be in a place where CICA are processing claims at pace, where there's not a substantial backlog... victims don't need to be in a position where they're waiting years and years for an outcome."
Ms Queiroz's initial claim for her daughter was rejected but later won on appeal. She now advocates for the scheme to be expanded to include unborn children who suffer physical effects at birth due to a crime. Her painful journey through the system underscores the urgent need for a victim-first approach to compensation.
