John was assaulted on a night out by being punched in the face repeatedly. He suffered a broken nose* which luckily did not need surgery.

John found that after the injury he could not smell properly as he had before. He asked the doctor about it and was told it might come back over time. He realised that not being able to smell had a big impact on him; he found he would burn food when cooking without realising because he did not smell it.

John was also worried about his gas oven when he realised, he could not smell if the gas was on or not.

He kept going back to the doctor as his sense of smell was not returning and was told there was nothing they could do.

He made a claim for compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. He had reported the assault to the police and supported the police case against his assailant.

John was awarded £3500 in compensation.

*Please note that John was unable to claim for the broken nose itself - the loss of smell was the deciding factor.