do you think i will be jailed

[mooney1111]

hi there guys,
i have been charged with assault, by striking someone with a piece of wood, what baiscally happend was, me and my gf where attacked by a gang of youths, i suffred concussion and my gf had a badly burst eye, so immediately after i was attacked i picked up a piece of wood to protect myself, then out of nowhere this man jumped out of his garden screaming and shouting comming towards me, and i assumed he was part of the gang that just attacked me, so i hit him, is this self defense ??, and what sentence do you think i will get, i so what do you think i will be senteced to ??


and i have just recently been accepted into college

[Goodsoulette]

sounds like self defence to me and Im no expert. A girl attacked my friends bloke with a baseball bat through mistaken identity and she didnt get a jail sentence.

[mooney1111]

thanks for your answer, im really worried about this as i suffer from hight anixety levels and panic attacks, so this is not good for me, so i am going to trial and pleading not guilty, just need some help over sentencing.

[D123456A]

Hi,

It really depends where the trial is being held. If it is in Corwn then the punishment can be prison (very, very, very worse case), if it's in magistrates then it may be fine and community service. I'm no expert, I'm trying to work the justice system out myself for my b/friends case.

Were there any witnesses? I would speak to a solicitor about it. If you claim self defence you will have to prove that you feared for your safety (which is going to be obvious if you had just been attacked).

Turn this experience around, what has happen has happen...try not to worry and use all your energy on getting a very strong case together.

Wish you all the best.

[mooney1111]

hi thanks again, i live in scotland and its at the sheriff court, im not sure what that means in england, in scotland uhave the district court then the sherrif court and the high court

[missrandom]

blimey its your worst nightmare type situation. hope it goes ok.xx also just a thought....did u hit him more than once? if so its harder to prove self defence. self defence is when you have the opppurtunity to get away you do, for example if you hit him and he fell on the floor, you would then have to make your getaway in order for it to be self defense. i think if you then kept hitting, thats when it no longer becomes self defence but assault.

[mooney1111]

i hit him once, then i ran along the road to get the police attention.

[mycats]

ok sherrif court isnt too bad. Try not to worry, go and talk to your solicitor and ask him to get in touch with PF asking him to drop the charges as you have a legal defence of self defence. Good luck

[jake-the-peg]

You should be getting advice from a lawyer who knows all the facts and not from us who only know what you've been able to tell us in a few words.

You have a right to defend yourself with reasonable force if you have reason to believe you're in danger.

However it crosses my mind that hitting someone over the head with a lump of wood could appear excessive, also picking up the lump of wood to use as a weapon could also reflect negatively.

Were you seen by a doctor and officially diagnosed as having concussion? Perhaps this could be used as evidence that your judgement was impared by attack.

This doesn't sound simple - you need proper professional advice if you're not getting it you need to get that seen to

[mooney1111]

i picked up the wood, because my attackers surrounded me, they started to back off, then i heard my g/f scream, and made my way up the street to see if i could find her, the the person came out and i thought he was about to attack me, and yes the doctor said i had concussion.

[missrandom]

i am sure youll be ok, it really sounds like self defence to me. i cannot imagine that you would get a custodial sentence, but i have no legal knowledge as such.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

using a piece of wood is not self defence im afraid,self defence is using enough force to stop the asailant,using a lump of of wood is way over the top of guidlines laid down by the law,a one moment you say you were attacked by a gang of youths,then you say a man appeared from a garden and you thought he was with the gang,what was the man saying and doing to make you hit him with the wood,i do not think you will be able to use any defence of self defence,and depending on his injuries,you could well go to prison for this.

[mooney1111]

the man came out and started to scream and swear at me and he made a lunge for me, thats when i hit him, his injuries are is some brusing over his face and his side and forhead, the funny thing about his injuries is that i did not strike him on the forehead or the side of his body i hit him on the back of his head , so my lawyer has giving the photos to a forensic doctor,

[dot.hawkes]

i think self defence is the wrong plea, you should just explain it was a confused situation and it was totally a misunderstanding in light of the whole scenario, what is crucial is the whitness evidence, is the guy saying you were out to purposefully hit him with the wood?

[mooney1111]

my lawyer has said to plead not guilty as it was self defense, my trial starts in 2 weeks

[mooney1111]

the guy cant remember what happend, i think there are some other witness, but there statements seem all mixed up some where saying i was wearing clothing which i was not, at the end of the day im not lying to the court by not admitting i did strike him like you said it was a confused situation, which happens in most street fight but what really gets me is that the gang who assaulted me and my g/f got there cause thrown out

[dot.hawkes]

it's all different here we have a majistrates court where you may have been fined but then the crown court which is where a trial is and it is more serious

[dot.hawkes]

are you a first time offender and if not will yout record be admitted to court and also is there any previous conviction for assault?

[mooney1111]

im not to sure but i thinkthe crown court would be the sheriff court and the magistartes court would be the high court, for example would you go to magistrates court for murder ??

[dot.hawkes]

no only for remand i think

[mooney1111]

i dont have any convictions, in scotland when you get your court summons you will have a list of convictions included and i had none, maybe ihave some spent convictions but not for assault