Abh & Common Assault

[TerryWogan123]

Hi
Ive recently been charged with ABH to which i am pleading not guilty,this was heard in a magistrates court and the police requested it was heard in Crown court which i also requested.

Ok so this story starts with no surprises in a pub which is in quite a well to do area. I am friendly with all the staff,managers and regulars ,on this particular summers day the pub was holding a cider festival. I arrived at the pub in the afternoon around 6-6:30 to find most of the regulars and the actual manager were pretty drunk and working their way through all of the ciders available as a game/challenge and i heard them say they were on cider #6, this was just the ciders not the rest of the drinks they had been drinking throughout the day so they were quite plastered and although i sat with them briefly at their table they were just too much for me to handle so i went inside.
I don't go out to get drunk and i always drink the weakest beer which in this case was Carlsberg at 4% (i think) ,some of the ciders were 8%. So i think you see what im trying to say here is that i wasn't drunk and the rest of the pub regulars were (very).
So i was in at the bar and a girl and her dad were leaving,we started chatting randomly like you do and the girl decided to stay and have a drink with me,by this time it was just after 7pm,we chatted about people we both knew etc etc time went on then at around 9pm we were sitting at the bar,id had 3 or 4 pints and still wasn't drunk i went to the toilet,as i walked in there were 2 guys one of which i recognised as a regular who i had chatted with a few times briefly in the past and another guy who id never seen before. they both looked completely wasted,the one i recognised was one of the regulars seeing if they could get through all of the ciders on offer that day and by the looks of him it was successful.There was a silence as i walked into the toilet,the guy i knew was standing looking towards the other guy who was slumped over the sinks staring at me like he was possessed and wanted to kill me. i patted the guy id met before on the shoulder and said hi then went to the toilet.i did think it was strange and was a little paranoid as it had gone silent and still was so i felt like id walked in on a conversation or something. i went to go and wash my hands,the other guy was still slouched over the sinks fixated on me but i carried on washing my hands.then i went to dry my hands and this guy stood up in front of the towels deliberately blocking the way and staring at me still. i said "what is your problem?" the guy instantly punched me in the face so i reacted and punched him back. the guy then started to dance around like a boxer and went to punch me again and i put hand up.he grabbed my thumb then fell backwards taking me with him. there was a bit of a scuffle as i tried to get my thumb back and i yanked it back,kicked him in the back of the leg and got out of the toilet.
shortly after this the police and ambulance :o arrived and i got arrested.
so i spent 20 hrs in a police cell,i was questioned and gave my version of events as above.
the pc said she cant see it going any further as the guy has marks on his arm and dont even know where they come from and don't remember anything but they will make further enquiries to find out if i am telling the truth.
I returned from bail to be told i was going to be charged depending on my response,the duty solicitor said if i just plead guilty to part of it i could get a caution and we can all walk away but i said why should i ? all ive done is defend myself so i stuck by my beliefs and said not guilty and so i was charged with ABH.
Now the reason i was charged with ABH is the regular guy that i kind of knew told the police a few days later that id gone into the toilet and attacked the guy for no reason and also said that id stamped on his head,he also said that he got in the way and suffered bruises to his leg,(to be continued)

[sandyRoe]

This happened on a summers day. Is the case not done and dusted by now?

[shoota]

You don't 'plead' at the time of charging.

[Baldric]

According to your profile you're Female,
What were you doing in the Gents?

[TerryWogan123]

(continued)
i have since seen a picture of the guys leg and i was stunned to say the least,he had a massive bruise on his leg which i KNOW i didn't do.
the other guy had a broken nose and marks over him and a mark they say looks like the toe of a shoe (i was wearing soft trainers).
these two guys know each other as they used to live in the same apartments next to the pub.

I had to give my plea at Crown court and they have added a count of common assault due to the guys leg.

my solicitor says the only reason im here is because of the guys statement claiming unprovoked attack by myself and `stamping on the guys head`

ive just been worried sick ever since as i feel so set up all because of this guys statement that went from vague on the night when notes were taken by the police to crystal clear three days later.

i have a picture of my thumb also which was bruised and blackened,i think it was momentarily pulled from its socket and was quite painfull. i asked the police to take pictures of it but they said there was no need,i also asked for pain killers in the cell and they said we would have to call the nurse for that,we will only be a few more minutes and then you can go but they kept me in for a further 4 hours.

sorry if this is all badly put together but im just writing as i remember.
id like peoples views on this as im really worried and cant believe its even got to this when i was the one wwho was assaulted in the first place :(

thanks in advance.

[TerryWogan123]

"This happened on a summers day. Is the case not done and dusted by now?"

Im not back in Crown court until March

"You don't 'plead' at the time of charging."

what i meant was i didn't agree or admit anything at the time,the duty solicitor said if i had done i would have been given a caution.

[TerryWogan123]

So anyway i guess im asking,can they seriously accept this guys statement who was at best blind drunk. im presuming the CPS thinks the answer is yes and this is what worries me.
i have statements to say i was sober and a statement from one of the bar staff who said she suggested to other staff that my attacker should be asked to leave as he was so drunk. And he was looking after his 7 and 11 year old children at the time which is quite shocking.

[Orderlimit]

See attached link which explains the two part test used to decide whether to prosecute

http://www.cps.gov.uk/victims_witnesses/resources/prosecution.html#a03

Summary:

http://www.cps.gov.uk/victims_witnesses/reporting_a_crime/decision_to_charge.html

[TerryWogan123]

Thank you for the links Orderlimit.
I am even more concerned now after reading lines like "in the public interest" :(
and that they only accept evidence that is `reliable` (im failing to see how someone that has been drinking 8% ciders for 9-10 hours is reliable) .

i feel at the moment that because i didn't accept this `offer` of a caution they are really trying to throw the book at me but the only thing keeping me going and getting me through the sleepness nights and endless worry (which is a sentence in itself) is the fact i know i was defending myself. :(

[Orderlimit]

'i feel at the moment that because i didn't accept this `offer` of a caution they are really trying to throw the book at me....'

From your description of events the police and CPS have followed procedure TW, and the issue ref Crown Court might be the CPS doing you a favour.

See the attached re self-defence which further explains charging decisions and public interest test:

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/self_defence/

[TerryWogan123]

The reason this is an ABH case is because this `other guy ` said i stamped on his head which quite simply didn't happen,and therefore the police are saying i used a weapon (my shoe) to attack the guy. this is such a crazy and surreal situation as this simply didn't happen and the guy giving this statement i thought was ok so i don't think he is actually `making it up` i just think that his brain has made up the blank parts with this story.
I understand what self defense is and what a step too far is also ,whats really bothering me is that a blind drunk version of events has any sort of standing against a sober one.

This whole situation reminds me a little of a school prank where someone would pretend they had been hit by the boy next to them and say "ouch ouch",the teacher would see the boy saying ouch and immediately send the other (innocent) boy out of the class room.

Its all so wrong.