Possible jail sentence for gBH

[sue11]

Hello can anyone help with this. My partner and myself own a sandwich bar. A vagrant had been sat in there for some time and my partner approached him asking him how long he intended to stay. The man started muttering to himself and then got up and started to punch my partner. He then stopped and walked away. We told the man we would be calling the police and the man started to again throw punches at my partner. He punched him to the floor and then picked up one of our heavy metal chairs and proceeded to bring it down on my partners head. My staff rushed out to help my partner and to try to restrain the man. He backed off & sat down in his chair again. We called the police and while we were waiting, I walked over to the man and told him the police were on their way. He then jumped up and hit me. The police took him away and have charged him with GBH. My partner needed 5 stitches in his head, thank god he was not more badly hurt. The man has refused to answer any interview questions and we are awaiting further details from the courts. Obviously I am worried that this man will be let out on bail and could return to our shop. Is he likely to be let out on bail? Also when it comes to sentencing, what is the likely sentence to be? Note, at no stage during the assault did my partner respond to try to hit this man back.

I feel that this man is a danger to the public as the attack was so unprovoked. I would appreciate your thoughts, many thanks.

[Will88]

I would be very doubful bail would be given. GBH carries a sentence of up to 5 years and would always end up in Crown Court. He could well be given psychiatric test to determine is mental well being aswell. The CPS could drop the charges to lesser ABH in a plea bargain in order to get a plea of guilt from the suspect (which is done often) He will only be looking at 6 months then.

[JackDanielsU]

Well thankfully you are both ok.

And yes I fear had you or you partner attempted to hit back...you would be looking at a fine..and a possible sentence.

Hopefully the police will realise that letting him back out in the streets is not the right thing to do,....but I doubt they can force him to go to a hostel etc

If he does get a jail sentence..it will be minimal no doubt..which is a sorry state.

I suggest calling your local police station, and voice your concerns..which you have every right to do.

[undercovers]

the police are not involved in the sentencing of offenders so a phone call to them would just be a waste of time and effort.

Additionally in this country we do not have a system of plea bargaining (at the moment)

It would be highly unlikely that this man would be released on bail as he would represent to much of a flight risk if as you state he is homeless - as an example i was in the magistrates court a few months back and a homeless man had been kept on remand following a shop lifting charge (value of produce stolen �2.30) as they had no way of finding him again if released and failed to attend court. So in your case i would think it highly unlikely that he would be released on bail, and highly unlikely that he escapes jail... all the best undercovers

[undercovers]

*when i say escapes jail i mean escapes a jail sentence - as its quite unlikely that anyone will escape from an actual jail once incarcerated � well you know what I mean, it just sounded funny when I re-read it.

[ronnie3]

i was attacked in my own home by 3 woman who had broken in ,while my son slept on the couch. They were charged with gbh and i had to go to court and give evidence which was frightening in its self. Well all they got was community service.

good luck in your quest for justice

[sue11]

Many thanks for all your responses. I have since found out from the police that they think he is on remand due to the transient nature of his lifestyle as you all thought! That does make me feel a lot safer. Once again many thanks.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

as he is a vagrant,as you say ,which could mean he has no fixed abode,i doubt very much the court will allow him bail.

[Ward-Minter]

sue just to add a few things.

1) Max Sentance for GBH is LIfe (with intent). As stated without intent is 5 years.

2) Although 5 stitches in head is serious enough to arrest and even charge for GBH, more than likely it will be ABH at court. Don't worry the same max 5 Years can still be imposed.

3) Being homeless in its own right is not enough to be refused bail. I imagine he is on remand due to him skipping bail (either court or police) previously. The only absolute NO BAIL GRANTED offences are murder/manslaughter and rape. Even then it is only if the defendant has previous for these offences.

4) If all goes to plan I imagine a slightly longer sentance will be imposed as the social position of the tramp will be so that he can't pay costs or compo. Has the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board been in contact?

Good luck with the court case. Last word of advice. The defence MAY plead guilty toa Section 4 of The Public Order Act. DO NOT ACCEPT THIS. Accept ABH over GBH bit not any Public Order offences!!

[tigilou]

I work in a solicitors so am very familure with this. Not knowing the background of the man its hard to advise but it is highly likely his solicitors would be applying for bail for him as this is a proceedure frequntly taken the Magistrates can oppose it but there is still a chance he could be released before his trial. If he has previous for failing to appear or failing to adhere to his bail conditions there is not much likelyhood of him being released.

Also time spent on remand is taken off his sentence once he receives his sentence the whole thing could take 6 months or longer and he will end up serving a matter of weeks if any as i doubt he will get life or anything over 2 years for this offence

[sue11]

Just an update on what is happening with the case. He is still in remand, but has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. The sentencing has been delayed and I believe will be sometime in August.
From what I understand it is likely that any prison sentence will be reduced by the time spent on remand and I heard that whatever time is spent on remand is doubled for the reduction in time in prison, which I don't really understand.
I will report his sentence when I finally find out what it is as it may prove a useful guide for others if they are in a similar situation.
Many thanks, Sue

[sue11]

Final update on this case. I am delighted to report that this man has been given a sentance of 3.5 years! I must admit that we were certain that he would be released almost immediately on sentancing, given the fact that he has been on remand for approx 4 months (which I understand counts for double in taking time already in jail for sentancing). We are wondering if either the courts are starting to take these things more seriously now or if he has misbehaved whilst on remand? As far as I was aware he was also awaiting the outcome of another offence which was assaulting a police officer and perhaps this has also been taken into consideration? Once again many thanks for all who responded on this thread.
Cheers Sue