Any Legal Advice Appreciated
any help on this matter greatly appreciated.
I was recently involved in an incident, i was a pedestrian and the other person involved was driving a car. having started to cross the light goes green and the car starts to rev up and pull towards myself and my partner, my poorly judged yet obvious response to this was to swear at the driver. the driver immediately got out of his vehicle and began shouting and threatening me. i went over to the driver where we continued to argue and he then punched my in the face and jumped back in his car and set off. as he set off i kicked his car, causing damage. he stopped and lept from the car and tackled me to the ground where he continued to hit me causing bruising to my face and head, several broken ribs and a fractured elbow. having finally got to my feet and got the driver restrained i let go of him at the advise of the people present and awaited the police.
i was arrested for criminal damage and was under the impression that he had been arrested also for the assault. only 18 hours later was i charged with assault and am due in court.
the injuries sustained have meant that i cannot afford legal help as i have been unable to work for several weeks, although because of pending charges i am not able to request financial help. as a product of this i need to stand up in court myself. the whole event was caught on CCTV which i have seen at the police station. my questions are:
1) how do i obtain a copy of the CCTV footage if i intend to represent myself in magistrates court?
2) the police have not taken a statement from my partner who was present, does this mean they have not carried out their duty to investigate?
3) police told me to leave custody, return to the front desk and report the assault against me as they were not interested in what i had to say. having gone to the desk and reported it, no one has been in touch for now 3 weeks. i assume this is because they cannot investigate the incident again but with several injury i do not intent to leave this so why will they not take action?
4) i did not take a free solicitor at the station as until entering the room i was not aware of the assault charge. i was suffering from severe bruising, broken ribs, a fractured elbow and had a pre existing spinal fracture and having been refused admittance to A+E i was desperate to leave the station, as i was in severe pain. i left and immediately attended hospital. should my statement have been accepted?
any genuine advice greatly appreciated as due to charges against me i cannot get help from anywhere without paying and am already £1500 out of pocket.