Charged With Two Counts Of Common Assault. Not Guilty!! What Are My Chances Of An Acquittal?

[Truthwillprevail]

I went to collect my daughter on a day the court had ordered. Handover was ok but then 3mins later my ex & her bf turned up behind me at a car park by blocking me in with their car. My daughter was doing a wee on her potty at this point as I wasn't expectin them there I asked my ex "why are you guys following me around?"which she immediately responded "I brought her medication" "you don't have to swear" & her bf was immediately saying "Yea don't threaten me next time""You give it the big I am in front of your mates, you're not big now are ya? I said, "can you not do this in front of my daughter?" He said "shut up" & this seemed to have startled my little girl (3) who I was still holding. My ex's bf kept talking so I walked up to him with my fist clenched & said a couple times "can you not do this in front of my daughter?" And said "or what?" "what?! what? what?!" I faked him with my fist clenched as if I was going to punch him but didn't punch him he was immediately saying "Get me out of the *** car now"; & then says "you try *** hit me again yea?" {then he came out of the car almost immediately, no reaction to show that he's just been hit as he later claimed as seen on the car park cctv}. He then said once that I hit him & then again said "you're the big I am in front of your mate, you're not now are ya?" He then called the police saying that "someone just tried hittin me" then says "I've just been assaulted" then went on to say 3 more times that "he tried hitting me". He never once mentioned that he was punched.
I felt threatened that my daughter was going to be taken away from me as ex had clearly said "I'm not letting him take my daughter anywhere" I walked up to put my daughter in the car, her mum stood in front of me, I then asked her "are you going to try stop me?" and she clearly insisted "YEA" and then walked towards me with the intention to take my daughter off me. I immediately pushed her away and she and her bf lounged back at me even though I had our daughter in my arms, I had no choice but to keep pushing her away. They both proceeded in hitting me despite the fact that I had my daughter. I kept shouting for them to stop but they carried on. The police showed up and immediately arrested me, I spent it in a cell for over 13 hours. On this day, I had a recorder in my car and one on my wrist, it didn't show anything but clearly heard everything. The police Charged me with two counts of common assault.
What are my chances of getting acquitted? The car park cctv has no audio to hear that I was being provoked but mine heard it all. Also the car park cctv doesn't show how close my ex got to me so police viewing that assumed that I in fact punched her boyfriend and started on her for no reason. It was on my birthday and there was already a court case for me to increase contact to shared custody but with this happening, contact with my daughter is now suspended as my ex claims she is petrified of me. There have been 3 previous allegations from same ex but no evidence to back her lies up so all closed! Now this!

[EDDIE51]

This is not just about a case of common assault, there has to be a lot of history behind it. This is an ongoing problem over access to your daughter.
The charge of common assault may well be dropped , but that would not solve your problem which is over the relationship between you, your daughter ,your ex and her boyfriend.
Easy for me to say I know, but until you can sort out an arrangement that is acceptable to all sides and stick to it things will not improve.
The assault charge is in fact the least of your problems.

[Truthwillprevail]

That's right Eddie51, but with this Assualt charge hanging over my head, is worse for me. I have a 1yr old and a good job but also have all intentions to get into a better job in the next couple years and a criminal charge against me is not acceptable. The only way there'll be peace is by me disappearing from my daughters life and as long as I keep paying then my ex will be more than happy! I've always dodged their attempts over the last three years and my relationship with my daughter has been great. Now she's started nursery so if I'm cleared which I don't know where I stand on that one, then I can happily show the court that I'm not the dangerous man I'm painted to be, then I can go and collect my daughter from nursery and back. Then on holidays I can have a third party do the handover. The last thing I want is to go through this ever again. Thanks for your answer, do you think there's a chance of an acquittal of the court sees my evidence?

[EDDIE51]

From what you have written I would say there is a good chance the case will be dropped.
Are you in the UK? Just have to ask as the law can be very different in other places.

[bednobs]

you really need some legal representation1) to help you get yourstory straight (lots of inconsistencies) and 2) to help you make the most of the points you have in your favour and 3) to listen to the full facts (impossible here in the amount of characters availble) and to give you the benefit of their expert knowledge

[EDDIE51]

Bednobs, legal aid is not available in custody cases, unless the child is in danger and these cases can take many hours of court time. A lawyer will charge £200 to £1,000 or more an hour!
Truthwillprevail, I would suggest you contact the charity 'Family's need Fathers' they can help you prepare a case for the family court.
This assumes you are in the UK!

[bednobs]

this is not a custody case - it's a criminl cse

[EDDIE51]

The assault charge is a small part , the root cause of the problem is the access to / custody of the child.
As to the common assault, from what we have been told I think the case will not get to court. Of course as always, we only have one side of the story.

[EDDIE51]

Family's need fathers , link
http://www.fnf.org.uk/
Phone them it's free.

[Truthwillprevail]

Hi guys thanks for the responses. Yea I live in the uk and have spoken to a solicitor who I will be meeting on the court date. In the meantime though, I will contact the "family needs fathers" to see what help and advise I can get because the solicitor has told me it'd cost £2,000. Also you're completely correct about the child access being the root cause, I've also spoken to a solicitor and they've quoted £5,000 to help with the case from this point to finish. My ex is a pshyco there's no way she can do anything amicably, already proven on two occasions. ...and bednobs: I appreciate your answer as well, everything I wrote was exactly what happened which is why I feel that if the court sees and hears the evidence from me they will drop his allegation as he clearly says himself I almost hit him and they'll see he lied. ...and for my ex, they can see she had the intention of taking my daughter from me even though she was legally in my custody. I know even if found guilty, I won't serve time but I don't wanna be found guilty because I'm clearly not. Even whilst they kept hitting me I didn't hit back just kept pushing my ex off and fending the punches from her boyfriend with my girl in my arms.

[EDDIE51]

Do get in touch with fnf as they can give a lot of advice. They can sometimes even provide a companion to attend a court hearing with you. This person will have experience of the legal system and can offer advice about handling your case. They will not be a lawyer but will have a lot of helpful experience of similar cases. Be wary of lawyers they are only in it to make money!

[Truthwillprevail]

Yea that's right about being careful with some lawyers and money, thanks. I've looked them up and signing up at some point tonight as well. Many thanks Eddie51

[Peter Pedant]

two thou seems standard to have a lawyer make a court application

I hope fnf can help

[Truthwillprevail]

Thanks, not a big help from FNF but found out about the Mckenzie Friends so that's the new route for the family court case. I just have to the court this Thursday to change the bail conditions then I go from there.

[lcg]

and why not contact social services to inform them that you were assaulted by the child's mother, bf and mother in law? clearly they are not good parents or role models for your daughter. you also have rights as a father and your recording should clear you along with the cctv. cause her as many problems as you can, and go for custody of your child (i would!).

[Truthwillprevail]

Thank you icg, as you know, it is extremely hard to get the social services on the fathers side especially when all these false and unproven allegations have been made against me. Everytime the social services have been involved, I have mentioned that it is my ex who is aggravating issues especially in front of our daughter but they just think I'm only trying to get back at her. ...as for the current allegations against me, I have a trial on the 13th Jan and my solicitor is very certain the charge against me from his boyfriend will be dropped as he clearly confirmed on my footage that I tried hitting him not that I hit him. ..however the one on my ex my be tricky as I didn't tell the police during the interview that I feared for mine or my daughter's safety when my ex tried to collect her from me before pushing her off. I said that I feared that my ex would hurt our daughter in the process as she was already in my custody and the only way to get her off was by force. So I'm keeping fingers crossed that they can see sense in that and let me off. My bail conditions were changed to allow me into Oxford but my ex insists she's to scared to even come into the same court room with me during the trial not to talk of custody. I got a third party to try to try arrange contact for Xmas but she completely ignored the messages so no Xmas with my daughter this year ...I'm now going with a McKenzie Friend and she's adviced that during the hearing and statement writing we will make it focused on the positives and all. So we'll see

[Truthwillprevail]

Hey peeps!!! Just writing to say big thanks for all the support and answers I got. My trial was today and lasted 6hrs. After my ex, her boyfriend and I gave evidence and the magistrates watched the CCTV I presented, they found me not guilty of both charges. They basically said that I was the only one who was consistent in my statements to the police, the court and it matched evidence but that's not the case with the other two as there were so many inconsistencies in their statements vs the evidence. They claimed memory lapse, blocked hearing, shock etc playing a part in their selective hearing. I'm so glad. Now obviously as EDDIE51 it's not just about this but about my daughter, I have learnt the hard way so I will be avoiding any forms of confrontations in future and I've come out of this a lot wiser than before. If I did not have the CCTV evidence, I'd be a convict and then my life generally will be messed up. Next up is the family courts hearing in a couple months but I'm going with a McKenzie Friend who will be directing me all the way. Thanks again guys and all the best.