Compensation scheme must be reformed to be victim-led and rights-based, says attack survivor

Ruth Maxwell: 'Victims and bereaved families deserve a fair, transparent, and trauma-informed process that recognises harm, restores dignity, and provides real justice.' Picture: Bob Morrison

Ruth Maxwell was on her way to work when she was attacked by a random stranger one early morning in May 2016.

She was going to catch a Luas when the man she now knows to have been Polish man Slawomir Gierlowski attacked her at knifepoint, attempting to drag her to his nearby van. She severed tendons in her hand when fighting him off, leading to severe damage to three fingers in her dominant hand.

She knows today that the attack could have been fatal if she had not had the strength of mind and will to fight back when he held the knife against her throat.

She managed to raise the alarm, and Gierlowski was caught. He had items such as duct tape and cable ties, with which investigators believe he planned to restrain Ms Maxwell.

Consultation processes

After a DNA profile was made, Gierlowski was linked to and convicted of three other attacks on women in 2010, 2011, and 2015. He was sentenced to a total of 34.5 years in prison.

Ms Maxwell has fought for improvements for victims of crime, including to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal (CICT). She has written submissions for consultation processes, and sent letters to different ministers for justice seeking improvements for victims.

She said: “I’ve been working independently on reforming the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal for nine years, after experiencing the process myself following my own attack in 2016. 

"I’ve met the minister for justice recently regarding the CICT, and have discussed the CICT many times over the past nine years with him and will continue to do so until there's a new scheme in place."

She said the scheme must be placed on a statutory footing and reformed to be survivor-led, rights-based, and victim-centred.

"Victims and bereaved families deserve a fair, transparent, and trauma-informed process that recognises harm, restores dignity, and provides real justice.” 

She is unable to work because of her injuries, which have caused her hand to deteriorate as time goes on.

She describes her experience of trying to recoup her loss of earnings and medical expenses as “the most traumatic and laborious process”, adding that she was re-victimised by the application process.