Common Assault Charge

[Kaspa]

I have previous convictions, 1 common assault, a section 4a, and I have just been charged again with common assault, while on probation for the section 4a. My partner has withdrew her statement and I have been doing a programme at probation called building better relationships, and have a good pre sentence report, I am currently working. Is it likely that I will go to prison or receive a fine and community service, or a suspended sentence?????? Thank you

[New Judge]

Nobody can tell based on the information you have provided. Assault committed in a Domestic situation considerably aggravates the offence. Your previous record of violence, especially if it involves the same victim will also add to the seriousness.

[Elley]

Have you completed the course bbr?

[Elley]

Your probation officer will be the key

[Kaspa]

I'm still doing the course, the date for trial is the 8th July.

[New Judge]

So you are pleading Not Guilty. I assume you did not carry out the alleged assault. Or are you relying on your partner refusing to give evidence against you?

[New Judge]

Sorry, I didn't finish. The reason I ask is that your initial question asked what sentence you would receive. Normally the first question to be answered in the event of your pleading Not Guilty is "will I be convicted?" You did not ask that so I assumed you were pleading guilty.

[Kaspa]

Pleaded not guilty to the common assault, there is a summons for my partner to appear at court, she is going to reiterate the withdrawal statement and that's it. Can they insist she gives evidence of what happened

[New Judge]

She will almost certainly be declared a "hostile witness". This means she can be cross examined by the prosecution about her original statement, the reasons for making a withdrawal statement and about the original incident. If she refuses to answer such questions she may be held in contempt of court (though this is unlikely - such action is rarely taken in the Magistrates' Court). However, if she refuses to answer the Magistrates' can draw such conclusions as they think fit from her silence. They may conclude that the original incident did indeed occur as she described in her first statement and that undue pressure has been brought to bear on her to change her mind.

The CPS has a rigorous policy of prosecuting domestic violence matters as far as possible with or without the alleged victim's co-operation. Your partner may find herself in for a hard time in court (or arrest if she fails to answer the summons).

[EDDIE51]

Read NJs answer very carefully it is an excellent answer and fully correct.
Just to put it in simple language, in domestic violence cases the victim almost always withdraws the statement. Because of this the CPS have a policy of continuing to prosecute such cases even when the original statement is withdrawn.
If your partner does go to court and refuses to say anything other than reiterating the withdrawal statement then the court will almost certainly treat her as a' Hostile witness' this means they will assume that the reason she will not say more is that she is so frightened of you that she dare not say more. This will make it a lot more serious for you and virtually guarantee that you go to prison. You need to plead guilty and hope that the magistrate will not impose a non custodial sentence. Remember there is a 1/3rd reduction of sentence for an early guilty plea.

[Kaspa]

The investigating officer has spoken to my partner and has advised her that she doesn't have to answer questions if she doesn't want to, apart from reiterate the withdrawal statement the withdrawal statement does include the fact that she wants to make our relationship work as there are more positives in our relationship than negatives, and the fact that we have been together for seven years and have two children together, as well as being a great father. Earlier Elly said that the key is my pre sentence report being good by my probation officer,following a building better relationships programme I am on. Would you say this is accurate at all, my probation officer seems to think so, and that the court do look considerably on my probation officers pre sentence report.

[Kaspa]

My partner will be attending court, will she get in trouble if the evidence she gives at court isn't of what it was on the night of the incident to the police officer, i.e she was drunk, confused, and very emotional and wanted me arrested for pulling a t.v off the wall. My partner used a metal poll and hit me over the head, I was treated at the police station for this, her mother was the one that made me aware of what my partner hit me with. Her mother has also contacted the investigating officer and said that we were both as bad as each other. My solicitor said that this conversation the officer had with her mum will be logged. However there is no summons for her mother to appear. She was the one that intervened and stopped our tiff.

[New Judge]

Police officers are not always best placed to advise on court procedures. The situation will almost certainly be as I described earlier and if your partner refuses to answer questions then the Magistrates can draw whatever conclusions they wish.

I don't know where the pre-sentence report stems from that you mention. Such reports are prepared, as the name suggests, before sentencing. In any case it will not be heard of during your trial. Furthermore the probation service will not have any input to the proceedings and no mention will be made of your progress on your latest community order. In fact, unless the prosecution seeks to bring "bad character" evidence against you (and you should have been told by now if that is their intention) the Magistrates will not be aware of your previous convictions at all.

All the trial proceedings will concentrate on is whether you committed common assault or not.

[Tilly2]

I have a Citizen Eco Drive which works via solar power. I love it.

[Tilly2]

Sorry!

[sandyRoe]

Wrong thread, Tilly2? I did that myself just a couple of minutes ago.

[Peter Pedant]

Fantatastic news Tilly

and much better than we are used to hearing on this thread.

( we could call this the Coulson Column...I was gonna Rebekah's Beano but in fact she has been acquitted )

[Kaspa]

Kaspa
Cps Policy for prosecuting cases of DV.
Before sentencing, the judge or magistrates may request the preparation of pre-sentence reports. The Probation Service will prepare these and they will be used to assist in sentencing decisions. We will provide the Probation Service with such information as they need to prepare the reports that the court requires.

This is what my probation officer is referring to, when the magistrate decides on sentencing. So I have been told that the magistrate will make there decision based on the pre sentence report provided.

[New Judge]

But you have not been convicted, Kaspa, and sentencing will not be considered unless you are found guilty at the trial. The new pre-sentence report will almost certainly be requested if you are found guilty but any you have had prepared on you up to now will not form part of the trial evidence.

[Kaspa]

I understand, I'm confusing the two, the trial, and the sentencing