21Meaning of “secondary victim”

21 Meaning of “secondary victim”

21 Meaning of “secondary victim”

(1) A secondary victim of an act of violence is a person who is injured as a direct result of witnessing the act of violence that resulted in the injury to, or death of, the primary victim of that act.

(2) A secondary victim of an act of violence extends to a person who is injured as a direct result of subsequently becoming aware of the act of violence that resulted in the injury to, or death of, the primary victim of that act, but only if—

(a) the person is the parent or guardian of the primary victim of that act, and

(b) the primary victim was under the age of 18 years at the time of that act, and

(c) the person did not commit that act.

The person is taken, for the purposes of this Act, to have witnessed the act of violence.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a primary victim does not include a person who is a primary victim only because of the operation of section 20 (2).