Will I end up in prison?

[VeryWorriedMan]

I am a 28 year old man who last week was arrested and charged for Section 39 Common assault & section 47 ABH against an ex Girlfriend. Firstly we had a row on the Tuesday night which resulted in me going out for a drink and going home which led to an argument. During this argument there was a lot of shouting and screaming and when she tried leaving I pushed her back to stop her from leaving which resulted in her neck being bruised, which i'm deeply ashamed of. Once the argument had finished, we went to bed and when I woke up to the door shutting, I realised she had left. I called her and persuaded her to return and there was no further rowing. The next day we spent the whole day together apart from a couple of hours when I popped into work, we cooked together everything, we were not singing and dancing, but were content and sorting things out. The following day I returned to work, leaving the house everything OK after a nice evening and by mid day I realised there was a problem as she didn't answer my calls or return them. Worried sick, I reported her missing to the police. that evening I was arrested and held for around 21 hours whilst the police investigated. I had a duty solicitor take account of my side of the story and was present at my interview, which I admitted pushing her to the ground and that I may have used excessive force after having a few drinks. Her version of events however were quite different. They included me strangling her and telling her I was going to kill her, which is insane. I am a professional honest hard working person, with a 8 year old daughter, who I have a great relationship with her mum, although we are not together. I look after my elderly mother and work full time and always have, have my own place and have never ever had any trouble with police in the past for anything. All of the events such as spending the next day together etc are all on CCTV from where I live and that will show that we were fine the day after. My worry is spending any time in jail for this, I need to keep my Job and home and stand to lose everything if i am sent to prison, after speaking with my concierge today, apparently it was mentioned by her to him that i strangled her in the bath, which is a different story again to what I was told by my solicitor which is insane and has got me worried sick. I'm sorry if this is rambling on a bit, but I wanted to give all the facts to get the closest answer I could. Can anybody put me out of my misery? Thank you

[R1Geezer]

sounds like a minor offence to me, if you can get the Mrs to not press charges then they'll drop it as a domestic. They have 100o's of feral scum to deal with at the mo so I'd say you'll be fine.

[mrsweasley]

Can any neighbours back up she was there the 2nd day? Or is she claiming it was that day? Good luck-I maybe female, but a lot of sh@t stirers out there-maybe a friend encouraged her

[exdc]

Hello Veryworriedman

Direct your question to the solicitor who represented at the police station as s/he will have the facts of the prosecution's allegations' and heard your version of events in formal police interview. The solicitor should be aware of current sentencing 'trends' in your circuit area.

You have admitted unlawful assault during police interview/s but deny some of the acts as per the allegation made by your ex-partner, if the prosecution proceed with all the offences as per the complainants allegations then this could likely result in a 'Newton Trial' (get your solicitor to explain or search the internet etc).

[Persona1]

If it is a 'first offence', I'd guess you are looking at a Caution. I know that Common Assault is a Summary Offence, and therefore cautionable if you admit it. Not sure about Sec47 ABH though, but you could google it.

If they offer you a caution you can refuse it (eg if you think you've got an evidential or public interest defence), in which case the matter will be referred back to CPS and may or may not go to court. The other option is that they may decide to take no further action.

Sorry not to be more help, but just want to say you have my greatest sympathy, this is a dreadful and traumatic thing to go through. I have been there. I hate the way they make you feel ashamed and to blame. Just remember, you're still the person you know you are, despite all of this. All the best.

[sara3]

well I'm confused.. you call her an ex-girlfriend, is this just since the incident? I think a court could well believe she came back to keep the peace, and waited for a "safe" time to get away from you.

you didn't want her to go amid the "shouting and screaming" so grabbed her by the neck (really??) and pushed her to the floor. I think you're trying to make light of a serious situation.

[atalanta]

I agree with Sara3. I think you are a woman-basher, and are trying to make it seem insignificant. You tell us how respectable you are - but it is well-known that judges, vicars, lawyers and plenty of other decent-sounding men DO bash women - and bash them repeatedly. I hope you do go to prison for GBH and have plenty of time to think about NOT bashing women, and set an example to your friends who do the same.