Abh 16Yr Old Likely Sentence

[juliebluedolphin]

My son got into a fight with another 16yr old in December. The other boy pulled his arm back to throw a punch and my son pushed him away and he fell over. The other boy got up and clenched his fist and walked towards him and swung at him, my son then punched him back and grabbed hold of him and threw him to the floor,and they both fell to the floor. My son then got up and walked away. A week later he was arrested for GBH and taken to the police station as when the boy fell back he hit his head and cut it open which required 6 stitches.
The police had an independant witness which matched my sons version of what had happened. The police sent it off to the CPS and they have dropped the charge of GBH and have arrested him for ABH. He is now appearing in court on Thursday and we are unsure as to what the sentence is likely to be. We have a solicitor bit they will only see my son half an hour before appearing in court. Does he plead guilty or not guilty as we think it is self-defence.
What is the likely outcome for sentencing in this case. Please help

[Buenchico]

A 'not guilty' plea, on th grounds of 'self defence' would be unlikely to succeed unless it could be shown that the only way for your son to avoid further attack was by using force (and that he used the minimum amount of force necessary). If he could simply have run away then 'self defence' is not a valid defence in law. It would probably be more sensible to plead guilty (but with mitigating circumstances). However the solicitor will have more detailed information, so your son should follow his advice.

Any young person who pleads guilty to a first offence (unless it is a serious offence, such as murder) will be made the subject of a Referral Order, which can last for between 3 and 12 months. See here for further information:
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/people-and-community/surrey-youth-support-service/what-is-a-referral-order

[juliebluedolphin]

thanks for replying, we are finding this so difficult, by son has never been in trouble before and he is really worried this will affect his future career. We feel it is so unfair as if he had tried to walk away the other boy would have hit him from behind. He had already pushed him away and the other boy jumped up and went straight at him with his fist clenched to punch him so my son only retaliated to the situation and ultimately know he faces the punishment whilst the other kid who was throwing all the punches walks away. We will definitely listen to the advice of the solicitor on Thursday morning.

[Traci66]

I was a witness in a case like this only last week, however the lad was a bit older and had previous, he got a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50 compensation and court costs, but as I said he did have previous.

[1ofmanyvictims]

Personally, I wouldn't plead guilty if I was in his situation. I believe pushing some one or even throwing a punch, is reasonable force if your son felt threatened and was outnumbered. Maybe he felt he wouldn't get away from them if he ran? May have been an instictive reaction to defend himself. Was it only 1 punch he threw?? If your son pleads guilty then it's on his record for life and may well effect future career options. If he pleads not guilty but gets found guilty then I'm sure he won't get a prison sentence for this. Go on solicitors advice but that's my personal opinion. Good luck.