Common Assault

[mikeho62]

Two yrs ago one of my daughters was physically attacked at her school by a boy pupil. She was aged 10 as was the boy. I made an official complaint to the school and the boy was reprimanded. The boy lives opposite us on the same street. Since i made the complaint we have had nothing but harassment from all the members of the family, there are five of them, the mum, dad and three sons. I have had rotten fruit thrown at my windows, my car and house paintballed, anonymous phone calls, cars driven at me on the road and more recently verbal threats of violence to myself and threats of vandalism to my house and car. Then one day myself, my two youngest daughters and my fiance had just gotten into my car to travel to a family birthday party when all of a sudden the two eldest sons of the problem family (both in their twenties) came over to my car door then lunged threw the window and began punching me. As they both attacked me they shouted verbal abuse at my daughters and fiance. After being struck many times my fiance manage to eventually close the door window and lock the doors. They continued to pound their fists on my car window (i think they were trying to smash the glass). My daughters were terrified and were screaming as they thought they would also be attacked. Even though the assault was quite vicious and unprovoked i only had one cut to my hand and a big bump on my head ( i dont bruise easily and never have). I called the police immediately after the attack and was told that because my two daughters are involved the CPS have looked at the case. They are being charged with Common Assault of which they both plead not guilty. The only witnesses are myself, my daughters and my fiance. Can anyone advise as to what punishment they may receive if they are found guilty. Oh and they both have previous criminal history.

[ummmm]

Sorry to say.....probably a fine.

[New Judge]

Common Assault covers a wide range of activities from a simple push to serious assaults where injury is caused. Because of this magistrates� sentencing guidelines are not as straightforward as they are for some offences.

They suggest that a community penalty is appropriate when one aggravating feature is present and that custody may be appropriate when two or more are evident. From your description of the events it seems to me that several aggravating features are present. Here�s a few from the guidelines:

- Offence was planned or sustained
- Offence part of a group action

There are also aggravating features which indicate a greater degree of harm Whilst these do not automatically increase the likely sentence they will influence the magistrates� decision. Among these are:

- Injury
- Offence committed in the presence of a child
- Previous violence or threats to same victim

Your attackers� previous history will also go against them. Bearing all this in mind, and providing the prosecutor achieves a conviction and manages to put forward these aggravating features clearly enough (evidence will need to be provided to support most of them) I would be surprised if a community order is not imposed. Not many people are sent to custody for common assault these days and I must say from your description custody seems an unlikely option.

In view of their not guilty plea you must be prepared for this matter to take some time to reach a conclusion. You should all (including your daughters) be prepared to give evidence. In view of their age the CPS may determine that they can go ahead without the testimony of your daughters, but if their evidence is needed special arrangements, including recording their evidence on DVD, are available.

[eyeshade]

New Judge is probably right - can you fix up a CT camera, this can sometimes stop a lot of it? But I do feel for you and your family, it must be a nightmare.

[paraffin]

"when all of a sudden the two eldest sons .............lunged threw(sic) the window and began punching me."

"The only witnesses are myself, my daughters and my fiance."

"they both plead not guilty."

Re the first quote, there just has to be more to it than you've let on. What else happened to cause them to do what you claim? I've had wide experience of such matters and your version, shall we say, seems to be economical with all the facts.

Re the second quote, it's your word against theirs, so no guarantees of the two brothers being convicted simply on your word. They will undboubtedly give a totally different version of what happened and blame you for starting it. The previous history of bad blood between your families will be dragged up and each of you will try to use it to your advantage.

Re the third quote, unless they change their plea to guilty, which seems unlikely from what you've claimed, then at least you and your fiance will be required to get into the witness box in Court and swear to what you say happened. I don't know how old your kids are who were present, but they too may also be required to give evidence.

Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear but it's what happens in the real world.

[oldmaggie]

Write a letter to the court telling them the effect this attack has had on you.Then if they plead guilty or are found guilty after a trial the bench should ask if there is a victim statement. Your letter will be read out giving the court an idea about how you are suffering from after effects. The court should also order compensation for your injuries (my guidelines are at court so I cant tell you how much you should get for a cut & bruise) Check with the police that they are on conditional bail not to contact directly or indirectly by any means you or your family, Reason being that they do not interfere with witnesses

[gary2411]

maybe a big fine , comunity sevice what should happen is the scumbags should be put in prison and the key thrown away