abh

[captain9]

my girlfriends ex is a sever alcoholic who reguraly suffers blackouts. During some of these blackouts he has visited my girlfriend and beat her up. before I started seeing her there were 17 domestic incidents logged with the police involving her ex beating on her. Shorlty after I had started seeing her he had gone round to her house and headbutted her resulting in two broken teeth, the police were called but went to the wrong address? I went round to comfort her and whilst I was there he turned up again, he tried to force his way into the house and shoved his finger into my eye, I was scared so I punched him in the face several times giving him a bloody nose and some swelling, during this he pushed me into a wall and tried to headbutt be, I grabbed a picture off the wall which had a glass frame and I smashed it over his head which resulted in cuts and scarring. I have to appear in crown court charged with ABH I am pleading not guilty as I acted out of fear and self defense but I am worried I will lose my job if found guilty by the court. my opinion of the courts so far is that they don't care about the truth it's just about who presents the best argument? Any ideas? I'm worried. Thanks

[bearsrule]

Hi

Can't give you legal advice but just wanted to lend support. Seems to me he tried to illegally enter and then hit first. Surely this is at least breaking and entering with intent to harm as well as ABH. You must insist you were defending. Just because he started it but you got the better of him should not result in you being charged. I also agree about the 'who has the best argument/solicitor' problem but he came looking for trouble. Unfortunately I think the law still is 'reasoinable force' i.e. you as the victim are only allowed to use reasonable force so make sure you make it clear you were in fear for your life.

All the best.

[Carakeel]

I think you need to get yourself a good solicitor. Go to the Citizen's Advice Bureau and see if they can give you any help. If things were as you say, then it would appear you were acting in self defence and also to protect your girlfriend. Given her ex's history, I hope this is taken into consideration at the trial. If you cannot afford a solicitor, you may be able to get legal aid. Good luck with this.

[HJT40]

I think if you put your side of the story they will see it is self defence and that the police had attended the wrong address, luckily you were there to protect your girlfriend. You are quite entitled to use force if you are scared of what someone will do. What you are not allowed to do is knock someone to the floor and continue kicking them when there is no chance of them getting up. If you were backed against a wall, this is the only thing you could have done to escaped. What you don't say is whether her ex has been charged with anything? You will go to Crown Court as you pleaded not guilty, in answer to a subsequent question, because it will then be up to a jury to decide.

[the sniper]

The law says you can use reasonable force to defend yourself and it sounds to me that you did exactly that. As an aside though, as Ward-Minter asks, why is it going to Crown Court, you should only be in the Magistrates?

[almac1984uk]

Hi there,
Please don't worry too much. If what you've said is correct, then you have a credible and complete defence to the offence.

If you are able to present evidence (there's is only a slight burden on you to provide something - evidence of a previous call to the police, for example) that your conduct was justifiable then the prosecution must DISPROVE beyond reasonable doubt that the conduct was NOT justifiable. If they can't do this, they have failed to prove an essential element of the offence (that it was unlawful) and you are entitled to an acquittal. (The legal authority for this is Beckford v R)

I would suggest you get in touch with a solicitor who will contact a barrister to present the case at the trial. If you have any other questions, I'll try and help.

Best wishes.

[almac1984uk]

PS I'm assuming it's in the Crown Court because you've pleading not guilty and it's going to trial?

[DuracellB]

Being drunk is NOT a defence. I hope he gets everything he deserves.