Abh Section 47 Charge

[Leigh76]

I have recently been charged ABH section 47 due to an incident that happened whilst I was stuck in traffic traveling home, the driver of another vehicle attempted to force his way infront of me effectively setting his vehicle on a course even though it was clear I had no intention of letting him in causing a minor collision, I got out of my vehicle to remonstrate with him and after a short argument he told me "I don't have to listen to this ***" and started doing up his window and putting his van in gear. at that point I reached in and removed his keys, obviously annoyed he got out of his vehicle and approached me and grabbed at his keys with one hand and my clothes with the other, after a short back and forth argument (Him requesting his keys, me asking why he had hit car) his vehicle key came away from the bunch in his hand and dropped the rest of them, he then let go of my collar and I turned and walked to the front of my car to inspect for damage.
realising there was no real damage (minor scuff on wing mirror) I turned around to him approaching me and pointed and said "you're lucky mate" at which he grabs me again this time with both hands and demands his keys back, I say take your hands off me, he says give me my keys, I say you need to take your hands off of me, again he says give me my keys, I say you have your keys and he says no the rest, I say they are over there on the floor now take your f-ing hands off me. at this point he turns and looks, sees his keys and instead of letting me go he lets go with his right hand whilst tightening his grip with his left, I believe at this point his intention is to either hit me or he is reaching for something and felt threatened and the need to defend myself, so I hit him before he could hit me (3 punches to the face)
at this point he grabs back on with both hands and starts shoving me backwards so I grab onto him and start shoving him back towards a parked car, after a short scuffle in which he took a swing at me that I avoided, a M O P intervened and separated us at which point I returned to my vehicle, calling him an f-ing idiot and left.
I received a letter requesting an out of custody interview, which I attended and explained honestly exactly what happened (admitting that I had hit him but only because I felt threatened in an unfamiliar area, he wouldn't remove his hands from my person despite numerous requests and I believed his intention was to harm me)
I have now been charged and have a court date at Magistrates court.

I am looking for advise on how to deal with this situation from here and likely sentence if convicted
I have no previous convictions, I am 41 yo, and I am currently the only working member of my household as my partner was made redundant 3 weeks prior to going on maternity leave, our son is 5 month old (3 months at the time of the incident, obviously a very stressful time in my life) I am concerned that a community order will massively impact my earning potential as my basic salary is low and I depend on overtime to make ends meet (currently working 60/70hours a week)

any advise would be greatly appreciated as I cant afford to get a solicitor

Thanks

[New Judge]

I'm not sure but I believe that Eddie has been involved with the probation service or something similar. If so he would have had occasion to utilise the duty brief at court from time to time.

[EDDIE51]

I was accused of being involved in an accident when I was able to prove that I and my car where not in the location at the time the accident happened. I was also accused of not reporting an accident. It got to court and I saw the duty solicitor who advised me to plead not guilty. I did so and the prosecution dropped the case.
It was strange, the first I knew of it was when I got a claim form through the post from my insurance company. I had not asked for a claim form. I phoned the insurance company who told me I HAD asked for a claim form for an accident at a particular place and time.
I told the duty solicitor what had happened and that someone must have phoned my insurance and pretended to be me. I still don't know how they got my insurance details , this was over 15 years ago now.

[naomi24]

NJ, //I believe that Eddie has been involved with the probation service or something similar.//

You do? Right.

[EDDIE51]

^ as I have said on here many times I worked inside a prison in the education department. I have met and talked to a lot of prisoners, including murderers, the duty solicitor was mentioned many times. Some blamed him some were grateful for the help provided.