What sentence will my partner get for GBH ??

[Jenni_luvved]

I have recently been harrassed by a man, he kept emailing me, phoning me, and then turning up at my house, leaving me presents. He kept sayin he is in love with me etc, i barely even know him and i was getting really freaked out and upset by the whole thing. My fiance of 2 years has an agression problem, a few months ago he went to prison for 14 weeks for committing assault and battery. Yesterday, this man turned up at my house again and started pestering me, i told him to leave me alone, and i was upset. My partner saw red and went out side, he punched him a few times. I saw the mans face, i think his nose was broken and his eye was bleeding and his lip was split. I know he has pressed charges and gone to hospital as i called him to find out, but he told me that and hung up and wont speak to me.

I am so angry and worried. I couldnt sleep last night and i feel constantly on edge waiting for the police to turn up and take my partner away. I am 99% certain he will go back to prison for this and im terrified of being without him again, its the most unbearable feeling. Ive had such a bad year so far, im dreading this.

I dont know what to think, the worst part is that i have no idea how long he wil get. Ive read that people can get life imprisonment for gbh ???? Or up to 5 years. Im so destraught right now, as he is all ive got and i cant bear to be away from him again.

Can anyone tell me what a likely sentence wil be ??

Please, if u have an idea let me know, as im clueless.

Thanx, Jeni

[Drusilla1S]

A conviction for GBH with intent can carry a life sentence and GBH without intent carries a maximum of five years according to this site.

http://www.activistslegalproject.org.uk/offenc es.htm#gbhabh

However, you should realise that The Harassment Act of 1997 was introduced to protect people from stalkers. It would have been better if you had consulted a solicitor before this dreadful situation got so completely out of hand.

[Jenni_luvved]

what does with intent mean tho ?? intent to do what ?? kill or harm or scare?? I dont understand

[Drusilla1S]

I think intent is whether a person has resolved to hurt someone else and how determined they are to see it through, come what may. Ask yourself whether a reasonable person would have acted as your boyfriend did because the lawyers will be doing that when deciding upon the charge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intention_%28crim inal%29

[vehelpfulguy]

Had you contacted the police about this mans harrasment before your partner hit him ?

(if not why not ?)

If you HAVE contacted the police, you could plead that you felt threatend by this man and it may help in your partners defence.

At least the police will have your call on record (if you made it)

[noxlumos]

Right well, firstly stop panicking. You haven't seen the police yet and you only have this weirdo's word for it that he's contacted them, which under the circumstances I doubt is very likely.Don't meet trouble half way, but be ready for it if it comes.Your partner's best defence against this is the self defence thing whereby you are allowed to use reasonable force to defend yourself if you think someone is about to harm you.That is, if your bf can convince the police that this man was about to asault him and / or you then you shouldn't have many problems and if it goes along the lines of "this guy has been stalking my girlfriend turned up at the house, she told him to go he refused and looked as though he might get physical she was very afraid and he was getting lairie, he swung at me..." then perhaps the police will realise it's not an open and shut gbh/abh case and may even warn him off for you.
I personally don't think you'll hear from the police as weirdo will have to explain the background of it all and he won't look good, so with luck your bf might well have dealt with your problem for you.
As someone who went to prison for a long time for GBH under very different circumstances, I have one piece of advice for your bf, get some help with his anger management problem before he really screws up and does go down for a while.

[joko]

make copies of any emails he has sent and anything else he has sent you as evidence that he has been harrassing.

this will help to show that your fella was in some way provoked and was protecting you.

[morbidstorm]

Provoked or not, your boyfriend has broken the law. I understand that he was trying to protect you, but it would have been safer, wiser and less distressing to close the door, go inside and call the police.

I know this reply is not going to make me popular, but someone had to say it - he's been in prison before for a similar offense and re-offended - why did he not learn to control his agression? It doesn't sound like prison re-habilitated him very well.

You say you called this man to find out if he went to the police - you have his mobile number? Why?

I'm sorry to say it, but your boyfriend clearly hasn't learnt from his previous crime, and having an agression problem is not an excuse, nor does it mean everyone in the country with an aggression problem can break the law.

[LittleBishop]

You have his mobile number, yet you barelly know him?
Me thinks there is more to this than you are saying.

[Jenni_luvved]

there isnt more to this than i hav already put ok, yeh i hav his mobile number as its on my incoming calls list about a million times, thats how i hav his number!! And yeh i no my boyfriend has done wrong, i no that ofcourse i do, but at the end of the day i dont need people makin me feel any worse thanx

[noxlumos]

Might interest you to know Morbidstorm that prison does NOTHING for rehabilitation of people with agression issues, in fact the frustration makes it very much worse and makes re-offending almost inevitable. I'm amazed that you're naieve enough to think it would.It's a very long hard slog controlling agression that you think will bubble over any minute and it's frequently caused by an over active "fight or flight" mechanism often triggered in early life by abuse or bullying, so yeah he does need to address it but that wasn't the question the girl asked, and she's obviously very aware of it already.Sounds as if she's been through hell, so maybe some constructive advice might have been handy not a nasty post designed to make her feel bad.

[maxximus]

atta boy noxi, always the voice of reason! cheers.

[sp1814]

I'm no expert, but I would suggest that the longer it is between the attack and the police turning up, the less likely it will be that they WILL turn up.

If the man has any sense, he'll realise that he'd be dropping himself in it if he contacts the police.

With something as serious as an assault, I'd expect them to be around within hours of it happening.

[WendyS]

I know this is a difficult situation for you but please think very seriously about this man you are living with. Prison has obviously not cured his aggressive and violent nature. Do you think there is even the slightest chance that one day he might turn his aggression on you and be violent to you? Many women make the mistake of thinking they can change a man's nature or personality, only to be completely disillusioned later. Please urge him to get some anger management counselling and support. I know he was trying to protect you, but even so, violence and aggression is not a solution and if he cannot physically control himself you might find yourself in a vulnerable situation later on.

[sp1814]

Very good point Wendy.

Jenni - I hope that the situation has calmed down now and that your bloke hasn't been charged...but you may want to sit him down and tell him how upset you've been over the past 24 hours.

If you can explain how badly his temper affects you, perhaps that could be a lever for him to get himself sorted.

Also, if you haven't done so already, you should look to making a formal complaint about your stalker.

[Drisgirl]

Nox -gave you the advice I would adhere too because the man is talking from experience and also with sense.

Think he is calling your bluff -but if my man - even in those circumstances did that and didnt just basically tell him to get to eff -or if knowing what the consequences would be if he turned up at your door u didnt involve the Polis then you have to re think your life pattern hun.Sorry -but we all behave irrationally at times - its human nature but your lad is bloody lucky if he gets away with that Alpha Male behaviour.I would be furious if my man behaved like that in those circumstances.

Just get the Polis in future and I personally think he should count his blessings this time (your lad).

Take care hun and be a bit more assertive:)

[Nemesis9]

It�s a rare occasion when I find myself at odds with the generally sound and sensible advice given by noxlumos, however, on this occasion I cannot endorse his strategy for dealing with the situation should the police become involved.
Nox, I�m surprised your actually encouraging someone to lie and mislead the police in order to avoid (a justifiable) punishment.
Clearly this man has acted recklessly and violently, and should be made to face the consequences of his actions if he is ever to change his life and pattern of behaviour (as you have done), there are already enough mitigating circumstances surrounding the assault to provide an adequate and robust defence for him without fabricating any.

I suspect it is unlikely to be taken any further, but even so, I�d hope your boyfriend doesn�t get the idea that perhaps his methods of conflict resolution are appropriate or casually accepted, as sooner or later he could find himself in much worse trouble. Best Wishes.

[sammylane]

Hi Jeni,

Why don't you try Citizen's advice to see what your options are? they are really kind and wil give you support. Plus I think you need a friend to support you too - someone who can stay calm and help you decide what to do about everything. Confide in someone else who cares about you, other than your man, and don't panic about this all on your lonesome.

[noxlumos]

Nemesis, I gave the advice I gave to the questioner because under the circumstances it seems the easiest and most appropriate thing to do to help her. I don't know her boyfriend or her, but she seems to have been through the mill a bit and even taken a mauling on here about herself and choice of partner so I reckon the last thing she needs is the police and a possible court case hanging over her head on top of everything else. I no longer lose my temper with such frequency that's true, but I do know that another spell in prison will hinder this girl's man not help him and I did advise her to suggest to him he gets something done about it. Life is not like a Famous 5 book you know, if you own up and do the right thing , things go well for you and I'd hate to see a man in prison for thumping a creep that had been bothering his woman for ages and I'd hate her to go through what my family did when I was in prison, all over some obsessive who may be out of whack and need help not punishment but none the less provoked to an extreme degree.I'm really going to shock you now I daresay, but all he did was thump him a couple of times, a cut eye, split lip, broken nose. He's not exactly Peter Sutcliffe is he? It's no more than what goes on a dozen times a night in pubs up and down the country and no-one thinks twice about it. I defy any man reading this to honestly hand on heart tell me he's never hit another person for any reason at all, ever. If anyone can then fair enough, but I think a lot of you will have, so does that mean that all of those people should turn themselves over to the police too because they've broken the law? Course not.I prefer reason and communication to get my point across for the most part these days but it doesn't mean that I live in a make believe land where doing the "right thing" is always the right thing, because often it's just not.

[Drisgirl]

I agree with you Nox as I said before but how many chances does someone need -forget your own experience (just for a min ) - I -as a female would be more on edge living with him.He sounds just a touch volatile and there is no need to batter someone like he did I can tell you things have happened within my family and the Polis have asked me not to involve the male members.I have told them -of course I would --and we are talking men who would rip throats out if necessary - and they -out of respect for the women and children involved have allowed justice to take its course.Bad enough something happening to your bairn or yourself without your man getting banged up.

Naw that man has an ego problem and he needs to calm his jets and concentrate on his g/f and let the polis deal with it.Shes a nervous wreck man.

[maxximus]

if i'm understanding correctly, this happened on the woman's property and he was asked to leave and didn't and as he is, where i come from operating with a stalker mentality, the b/f has every right to give the guy a few shots to the head to get his point across. propably saved the police a lot of wasted time and i'm sure he'll think twice about coming around again. personaly i think a lot of you are over reacting. cheers!