ASSAULT BY BATTERY

[lawquery]

My friend was arrested today for battery by assaulting two female paramedics. On new year's eve (almost two months before he was arrested), the paramedics were called because my friend started fitting after a few shots of alcohol, and we thought that it might have been alcohol poisoning. When the paramedics came and tried to move him and place him on a chair to wheel him off the flat, he started jerking around, flailing his hands and twisting his body so he kept falling off the chair. He kept tensing up, grinding his teeth and jerking; he was practically unconscious with eyes closed the whole time. According to police statements, whilst trying to restrain him, the one paramedic was punched in the nose, and the other was kicked. They would have had to keep him still and go down a flight of stairs to get to the ambulance, so they decided to call the police for some help. Also, because of his jerking, it would not be a good idea to put him in the ambulance. However, when the paramedics called the police, they said that he was being 'abusive.' When his girlfriend asked why they said this knowing that it was not true, they said that they had to say it to get the police there quickly, and that they would explain that this was not the case when the police got there. When the police did get there, my friend woke up, and was conscious, though still drunk. The police had to carry him in the van and transported him to the hospital. At the hospital, my friend loss consciousness while walking into the waiting room, so he had to be taken in immediately. Nothing much could be done at the hospital as he kept holding on to things everything they tried to move him, and he would have been too 'jerky' to do a head scan. The problem is, he does not remember anything that happened that night apart from waking up in the hospital, which is what he said in his police statement. He has a court date next week. Should he be worried? Will he need a lawyer?

[Buenchico]

What he needs is:

1. To contact a solicitor as soon as possible. He should phone Community Legal Advice, on 0845 345 4 345, to be put in touch with someone who works within the Legal Aid Scheme ; and

2. To contact as many witnesses as possible, in order to get them to give statements to his solicitor. (If only his girlfriend was present, he'll have to rely upon one witness statement. But if it was a party, with dozens of witnesses, he needs to contact every one of them).

Chris

[lawquery]

Thanks. The police didn't really ask for any witnesses, but there were a few people there that night, and they all saw what happened. Should he ask the people to go down to the police station to give a statement?

[joko]

the hospital will know who attended the scene ...find outr who the paramedics were and get them to make statements

they may lie though, so thye dont get inti trouble themselves...

[factor-fiction]

You might have more luck putting this under Law-Criminal instead of Adverts, but you probably won't get a better answer than Buenchico has given

[SRH]

Hmmm, no offence but the paramedics could have got the police there just as fast by saying it was a medical emergency - believe it or not the police aren't heartless and have a great relationship with the ambulance service so would be there in a shot if they were needed. I wasn't there so don't know the full story but if your friend was so out of it due to alcohol is it not possible that they also became aggressive? Were you there? Did you see what happened? Is it not possible that your friend did actually assualt the paramedics? I just can't see why the paramedics would lie in the first place or keep up the lie.

[lawquery]

Yes I was there, and loads of people were too - the paramedics might have gotten hit, because he was flailing and jerking about, but it would definitely not have been intentional. He was practically unconscious and had his eyes closed the whole time. He was jerking his body every time they tried to move him onto the chair to move him out of the flat.

[lawquery]

" the paramedics could have got the police there just as fast by saying it was a medical emergency"
EXACTLY WHY HIS GIRLFRIEND ASKED THE QUESTION

[sara3]

I'm surprised they wanted to move him in the middle of a fit.

[lawquery]

Also, if they were really assaulted, shouldn't they have told the police when they got there? This just all seem weird.