The victim, Jay Jones, was just 3 years old when he was brutally struck 11 times by the other child and left unconscious.

But because the aggressor was under 10 years old, the criminal justice system maintains that he could not be held criminally responsible.

In turn this led the CICA to contend it had no obligation to pay compensation as there was no criminal intent involved in the attack.

The defendant's family appealed against the decision and after what the victim's mother described as a "long and hard-fought process" the Tribunal Services agreed with their case.

Now, a victim can claim compensation from the CICA merely for being the victim of a criminal act, even if the perpetrator is too young to be tried.

"It's a landmark decision, there's no previous precedent," said David Kirwan, who represented the victim. "It opens the floodgates and I'm sure there will be a lot of cases."

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is a government organisation that can pay money (compensation) to people who have been physically or mentally injured because they were the blameless victim of a violent crime.