A MAN who had his arm broken in three places when he was assaulted has been told that he will not be compensated -- because, he says, officials wrongly said he was serving a prison sentence at the time of the attack.

Chris Wright, 39, of Whalley Banks, Blackburn, was kicked and punched to the ground and had his left arm broken in that attack, in Blackburn town centre.

His attacker was never caught, but Mr Wright was told by his solicitor that he may be entitled to an award from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

The CICA administers compensation to victims of crime and violence, it was introduced to acknowledge public sympathy for victims of such crimes.

Mr Wright's solicitor, John Myles of Forbes, Blackburn, said: "Awards from the CICA are calculated on a points based system, and if the victim of a crime has criminal convictions of a sufficiently serious nature, they may not be entitled to compensation.

"We got a letter from them saying that Charles Wright would not qualify for compensation because he had a number of convictions which were not spent."

"These convictions could not be his. It is someone with the same surname and a similar date of birth, but it is not my client.

"It could just be a mistake, but then again it could be something much more sinister. This chap may have used my client's name and address as an alias, and his date of birth. All the crimes are based around Merseyside, and he was supposedly in the middle of a long prison sentence when the original assault took place.

"My client is worried that he may be held responsible for somebody else's actions.

"I have written to the CICA and asked for it to be looked at again. It's called a review and has been sent off."

A spokeswoman for the CICA said: "We rely on information from the police. If what Mr Wright is saying is true, it sounds as if there is an issue which needs to be resolved.

"He should also contact the police because if someone is using his name and date of birth, it is a very serious offence.

"Claims can take a long time to process. If Mr Wright wants us to look at the claim again and he feels he has a genuine complaint, he should contact us. We will try our best to sort it out and look at the case again.

"We do carry out rigorous checks, but claims can take a lot of time so we ask for patience."