GBH at Crown Court

[Nathy1]

I was arrested for an affray on a night out after me and and a friend got into an altercation with another male.

so at the end of a night out me and a friend went to a pizza place the usual at the end of a night. Upon arriving at the pizza place we opened the door to find the shop owners wrestling/struggling with 2/3 males. They were being very abusive and me and my friend helped usher the guys out of the door and it was locked by the owner. Me and friend inside we planned on getting sumthing to eat but the males outside were smashing the windows and screaming verbal abuse at us all ect.

we were then asked to leave so as the owner could lock up as he wasnt impressed with his windows being smashed so we did. He locked the door behind us. 2 males set off in a direction away from us but a man and a woman approched us imeadiatley and was shouting ect. The guy was quite close to us (me and friend) side by side and i actually thought we was going to be attacked by the male. In a split second I punched the male and he fell to the floor. Before I new what was going on my friend ran to him and proceeded to kick him while he was down. I went over and stopped my friend and we left.

They had the whole account on cctv (very clear) and we were arrested further up the street. What they didnt have on the cctv was the group kicking and punching windows ect. The shop owners said they will testify in our favour.

I understand mine and my friends cases are very different. I did only punch the guy once and had no idea of how it would all end.

Is a gbh charge correct for me? Even though the bloke has substancial injuries i feel hard done by. Especically as the whole account came around out of nothing and us actually trying to do the right thing.

[bednobs]

were you charged with affray or GBH - it's not all that clear from your post.
I would guess that but for the fact you had knopcked the man down, he would never have recieve dthe injuries he did as your friend would not have been able to kick him, so in a way you are just as responsible for his injuries. What were the injuries?

[Nathy1]

Sorry. Yes we are both being charged with GBH, without intent. I have no doubt that it may have been me that caused his injuries. He had a broken jaw. What I do know is that from the moment we walked into the shop we were the ones being persude by the males.

[bednobs]

there are a lot of people on here who will give you advice (good advice at that) However, you really must get legal representation, who will have the benefit of all the facts and advise you what to plea and whether the charge is right for the circumstances

[Nathy1]

I am in the process of looking for a solictor. What is a 'good solicitor' and how to find one, I do not know.

[Chez91]

where are you from?

[Nathy1]

im from coventry in the west midlands

[Buenchico]

Here's the document which the Crown Prosecution Service uses when determining the appropriate charge for an offence involving assault:
http://www.cps.gov.uk...s_against_the_person/
While the CPS can't determine how the law should be interpreted (only courts can do that) the advice given to their staff in that document is based upon the interpretations previously given in Crown Courts (and by the Court of Appeal), which then become binding (as 'precedents') on other courts. You'll see (in paragraph 55) that a broken jaw qualifies as 'GBH'.

See page 15 of this document for the sentencing guidelines for GBH:
http://www.sentencing...person_accessible.pdf
You should note, however, that those sentences refer to a first-time offender convicted after a trial. Previous convictions (especially for assault) can push the sentencing range higher. An early guilty plea can see the sentence reduced. (For a custodial sentence that would normally be by one third).

Chris

[rizpick]

How did it go ? Any news on the case?

[Nathy1]

Hi, yes I have news although im sorry as its been a long time! It has been one of the toughest years of my life. The case had dragged on for just over a year and it was up and down the whole way through. I'll try and describe the clearest and best I can.

So, we (me and my co-defendant) were originally charged with affray, which was quickly increased to sec 20 gbh when the extent of the complainants injuries were known. He had a broken jaw with various cuts and bruises and received an operation on his jaw. This was following an incident on a night out where a group of people confronted us at a take-away after we had just helped the owner usher 2 guys out of the takeaway for causing trouble. I described in my initial post but it may not be that clear... sorry for that.

We ended up back and forth from crown court where the prosecution tried to follow through with gbh charges for both of us. My plea from the beginning was not guilty on the grounds that I threw a "single punch" in self defense. It was the 1st and only punch to be thrown and I was not disputing that I may have caused the injury to the males jaw.

My co defendant said that he would plead guilty to a charge of affray if accepted by cps on the grounds that he had over reacted and kicked the guy 3/4 times while he was unconscious but "may not have been responsible for causing gbh" ie the broken jaw. They declined.

After a year of messing around, several court appearances later a date for trial was set. A week later my solicitor received a letter saying that charges against me had been dropped due to insufficient evidence even tho it was all on cctv from day1.

My pal stood before a judge for an affray and received community service with NO custodial sentence. He admitted he shouldn't have done what he did, and the judge was extremely lenient due to provocation.

I am appalled at the way the whole case was conducted (at me) from day one! It was very apparent that the police and cps were only interested in getting the MAXIMUM charges possible without actually caring or thinking of what had actually happened that night.

The police did not care that the group approaching us were the aggressors and they did not follow up whiteness for statements. The witnesses were happy to give statements telling of how me and my pal were on the back foot and being approached by a group of 4/5 people who were waving arms, kicking windows, shouting ect ect. As far as the police were concerned they had cctv footage showing 2 guys (us) kicking the Sugar out of someone so chose to ignore the facts. Is this normal and are they allowed to simply dismiss key evidence for favorable evidence?

The law clearly states that if you are in fear of your own safety or even the safety of another you ARE allowed to strike 1st. Besides, for me this was just an instinctive reaction to the threat that was inches b4 me(and it was a threat!!) On these grounds i don't understand why i was charged or why it was so difficult for the police/cps to see/understand?

I over the last year herd things like "you deserve more than this court can give to you" magistrate judges words which is in reference to the maximum sentence a magistrate can give.

Things like "it was an appalling attack on an innocent member of the public" from the cps!! Well... obviously not!

I dont want 2 rant guys but it has seriously been the hardest year of my life and I have been faced with jail, loss of job ect. Ive been severely effected by the whole thing and don't think I will ever get over the mental scar it has left on me.

I under no circumstances condone violence but am a firm believer that one should have the right to protect themselves from injury at all costs. Does anybody agree?... If so is it right that someone be put through something like this? I couldnt go on holiday for a yr because of court appearances ect, and suffered quite a lot in my eyes - more so then the victim 'in my opinion.'

I look fwd to your opinions. Thanks.