Will I Go To Prison For Section 18 Gbh With Intent?

[Russo101]

I may be charged with section 18 gbh with intent. (still on bail)

My neighbour had a party on jan 2nd which went on till 6am. This party was loud but as it happens my neighbour had not had one i can remember in 8 years+ i've been living next door. I decided to "live and let live" but it meant i did not get some sleep until 6.30am ish. I was awoken at approx 11.30am the same morning to sounds of a woman crying and a mans voice shouting and swearing. This escalated to the point i called the police but i heard the words "paul, NO, then a loud noise which made me think i had to act.

I thought my next door neighbour was being beaten and entered her home with a tyre iron to confront her attacker. Upon entering i was shouting at the male she was arguing with in order to get him to leave the premises. He calmed me down saying i had "got it all wrong" so i backed out the house and dropped the tyre iron. It was at that moment the male attacked me by rushing towards me with his head and body and then punching me in the face. He then dragged me to the floor and began beating on my back. I managed to escape him for a moment and picked up the tyre iron which was behind me then struck the male in the head with a single blow. He sustained a cut a little over an inch long and had to stay in hospital for a couple of days. At that point the police arrived and took me into custody.

I haven't been charged yet as i am on bail. I have no previous for violence and i have had good relations with my neighbour up until this matter. I am also disabled (i have erbs palsy, which affects my left hand side) which was my reason for taking the tyre iron to a situation with a man who was larger than me and more physically fit.

If i am charged with section 18 gbh with intent, will i go to prison?

I am due to talk to a solicitor tomorrow but the fear inside me brought me here. Any advice would be wholly appreciated more than you will ever know.

Best wishes to you all. R.

[ToraToraTora]

if the above is true, plead not guilty via self defence.

[Buenchico]

Firstly, you don't appear to have described 'Grievous Bodily Harm'. The Crown Prosecution Service's own guidelines state;
"Grievous bodily harm means really serious bodily harm. It is for the jury to decide whether the harm is really serious. However, examples of what would usually amount to really serious harm include:
injury resulting in permanent disability, loss of sensory function or visible disfigurement;
broken or displaced limbs or bones, including fractured skull, compound fractures, broken cheek bone, jaw, ribs, etc;
injuries which cause substantial loss of blood, usually necessitating a transfusion or result in lengthy treatment or incapacity;
serious psychiatric injury. As with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, appropriate expert evidence is essential to prove the injury"
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/offences_against_the_person/#a15

So it's far more likely that you've described 'ABH' (if any offence at all was committed).

Secondly, even if the CPS could get 'GBH' to stick, there's probably sufficient doubt present to make adding on 'with intent' unlikely to stick:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/offences_against_the_person/#a16

Thirdly, although the vast majority of people who post here claiming that there actions were 'self defence' haven't got a snowball's chance in hell of being acquitted, you genuinely seem to have a valid defence:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/self_defence/#Reasonable_Force

However, to answer your actual question IF (and it's a very big 'IF'!) you were actually convicted of GBH with intent then, yes, you would definitely go to prison.
http://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Assault_definitive_guideline_-_Crown_Court.pdf
(That's the actual document that judges must refer to when sentencing. Pages 3 to 6 apply. If you were charged under Section 18, pleaded 'Not Guilty' and were then convicted, the minimum sentence that could be passed would be one of 3 years imprisonment, meaning 18 months of actually being 'banged up').

[EDDIE51]

If and ONLY If, you are charged and the GBH S18 goes to court and you are found guilty then I am afraid that a prison sentence is a virtual certainty.
You need to tell your solicitor the entire story and take his/her advice.
You are potentially in a lot of trouble here. From the police viewpoint you entered a house armed with a weapon ,the tyre iron, and were prepared to use it. You were then attacked and defended yourself. The question will be if you used too much force to defend yourself by grabbing the weapon that you had brought into the house.
The fact that you brought the tyre iron into the house is what makes this a S18 rather than a S20. If the tyre iron had just happened to be laying around and you grabbed it to defend yourself it would be a S20
(GBH without intent)
Best of luck for tomorrow.
Let us know what happens when you have talked to the solicitor.

[douglas9401]

What's a tyre iron?

[EDDIE51]

Buenchico , Russo says that the man had a 'little cut to the head' but had to stay in hospital for a couple of days. That to me says he had concussion. (You do not get 2 days in hospital just for a little cut to the head.)
Concussion I think is sufficient to justify GBH ? and taking a tyre iron into the house makes it 'with intent'?

[VHG]

I think it is a thin long iron bar for levering tyres off the rim.

Like this

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2236/1572143187_80f27775b2.jpg

p.s. I have to say that even if you thought the lady was being attacked running in another persons house brandishing a metal bar is not a great idea (you probably know that now).

Your case may depend if the lady backs up your story or the other man.

[EDDIE51]

douglas, a tyre iron is similar to a crow bar,it is used to lever a tyre off a wheel rim.

[Russo101]

Thank you all for your input.

I hope they don't charge me with s18, but it does say that on my bail sheet and i have to now accept the possibility of prison. Not a good feeling.

I will of course let you good people know how this turns out. Thanks again.

R.

[Orderlimit]

Russo, I think the fact that you called the police prior to getting involved in this incident is going to go along way in helping your case and also helps prove or show that you were lawfully on premises, ie, you entered the property to prevent serious injury or harm to another.

We obviously don't know what the other witnesses are saying but if what you are saying is roughly the agreed facts then it's the sort of case where a Jury would be on your side and do what is necessary :) (that's if you are charged).

Well done for trying to help this girl, very brave.

[EDDIE51]

I have been reading your question carefully and I feel it is only fair to warn you that there is another side to this story.
From the point of view of the man you hit it would read like this.>
I was in the house of a female friend and we having an argument.
Suddenly I was confronted by a man from next door who had entered the house. He was screaming at me to get out while holding a metal bar as if to hit me.
Fearing for my safety, I tackled the man to the ground, and tried to hold him down. But he managed to grab the iron bar (which he had dropped), and hit me over the head with it. The police then arrived and arrested the neighbour. I had a cut to my head and had to spend 2 days in hospital due to concussion.

Same facts, different perspective !
See what I mean about there being two ways to look at this?
I hope you are not charged but you really do need a good solicitor.

[Orderlimit]

^ This is why the prior call to the police is so important, helps draw inferences that the accused had lawful/good intentions (assuming a domestic in progress, or similar was initially reported) and that this 'victim' was likely already fired up & violent.

Yea, it probably didn't go as hoped but no doubt many police officers have experienced similar escalations on attending a violent domestic in progress.

Russo, don't worry too much about the bail sheet still showing the offence as a Sec 18 assault, it will stay the same as the offence arrested for.

[Peter Pedant]

// if the above is true, plead not guilty via self defence.//

You need to see a lawyer - as you have done....

the difficulty about a defence of self defence is ..... you were not defending yourself but defending someone else .... oops. The lawyer will tell you if it will get up and run.

if you have Erb's palsy - honestly I would go back to your old life style and leave the scrapping and fighting to abler bodied men

[Russo101]

Thank you all for your replies. I spoke to a solicitor and we agreed that my actions were in defense of another, then in defense of myself. If i am charged with s18 i will oppose it in court.

Thanks again... R.

[EDDIE51]

If you are actually charged with S18 I would ask your Solicitor about the possibility of a 'plea bargain' this is where you agree to plead Guilty to a lower charge , ABH instead of GBH.
The advantage is that if you plead guilty to ABH there is almost no chance of a prison sentence, whereas if you plead not guilty to GBH but are found guilty anyway you are definitely going to prison.
Let us hope you do not get charged but if you do ,it is worth asking the solicitor about a possible plea bargain. All in all I think that is a better option than trying to get a 'not guilty' to GBH.
I do not like having to say it, but looking at your story I would rate your chance of getting a 'not guilty' in a trial at less than 50%.
You did come into the house with a weapon and you did hit the other man with it . You also admit you entered the house shouting at the other man and holding a weapon, that will count as 'provocation' for him to knock you to the ground.