Can I Go To Prison If I Have Been Charge With Section 18 And The Oponent Want To Drop Cahrges

[olakunle79]

Enter Further Question Details Here...

[Jackdaw33]

Yes, because no-one can drop charges, apart from the CPS. s.18 is a serious offence and the starting point for sentencing is three years imprisonment.

[davegosling]

The answer is, yes you can, if the trial proceeds and you are found guilty. Assuming your case has gone as far as having a trial date set, then even if the plaintiff has said they no longer want to proceed, the trial will still proceed if the CPS believes they can still win it.

As always with these things, you need to stop asking such questions in here and direct them instead to your legal representation.

[Buenchico]

The atttitude of the Crown Prosecution Service is that they'll always proceed with an assualt prosecution where the victim seeks to have the charges dropped as long as they've still got sufficient evidence to do so (e.g. from CCTV).

That's because
(a) victims sometimes seek to have charges dropped because they've been threatened by their attacker (or by someone associated with him) ; and
(b) assault is an offence against 'public order', as well as against the victim.

A conviction under Section 18 is extremely serious and only just below one for 'attempted murder'. As such it always results in a custodial sentence. The very minimum sentence which can be passed (other than under extremely exceptional circumstances) is one of 3 years imprisonment (reduced to 2 years for an early guilty plea) but the sentencing range goes far above that for the most serious offences.