Being remanded in custody for a repeat offence

[leanne2387]

Hi, wondering if anyone can help, my friend has been remanded in custody, so he is in prison until his court date, which is tomorrow, i dont know the whole story, but i know he hit his friend and he is now pressing charges against him, this is a repeat offence for him, he came off probabtion at the end of december for GBH, apparently the friend he hit only has a cut lip. Just wondering if anyone thinks he will be put back into prison for it, and how long ??

[The-Toff-]

Agree with EDDIE, you can not go round hitting people, if you do, you end up in jail.

[Buenchico]

A cut lip probably comes under "minor, but not merely superficial, cuts of a sort probably requiring medical treatment (e.g. stitches", which is part of the Crown Prosecution Service's definition of 'Actual Bodily Harm':
http://www.cps.gov.uk...he_person/#P189_14382
So it seems likely that you friend will be facing a 'Section 47' charge.

It's unusual for a court not to grant bail for an alleged ABH offence. The rule is that bail must be granted unless there is a specific reason not to do so. For some offences (e.g. murder) the serious nature of the alleged offence provides sufficient grounds for a court to refuse bail, but that wouldn't apply to an ABH charge. So the court must have had another reason to refuse bail (which must have been given, in writing, to your friend). That could include the likelihood of a further offence being committed (which seems to be an unlikely reason for refusing bail) or the possibility of interference with witnesses. Bail could also be refused if your friend had failed to answer to bail in the past.

The sentencing guidelines for ABH (which a court must adhere to unless there are very exceptional circumstances) are on page 17 of this document:
http://www.sentencing...person_accessible.pdf
The sentences on that page refer to a first-time offender, convicted after a trial. Your friend's previous conviction will push the sentencing upwards, but an early guilty plea will have the opposite effect.

My guess is that your friend will just avoid a custodial sentence. If not, the sentence will pro

[Buenchico]

probably be around 4 months custody, with only half of that time actually being spent 'inside'.

Chris

(I HATE it when AB cuts off the end of a post without warning!)

[leanne2387]

He lives about 5 mins away from the friend he hit so that might be why they put him in prison, he previously was sent down 4 18 months for GBH as he had a fight with two men and broke one of their jaws, and his 18 month probabtion only ended in december, thank you for your opinions.