Domestic Violence

[passion35]

My partner who I was living with for 8 years and have 2 children by has recently attacked myself and his stepdaughter who is under 16 years of age. He has been charged with Assault and ABH, which I was left very badly bruised and in the result of this incident my daughter he also attacked was left with broken toes. If he pleads guilty at court does anyone roughly know what the outcome would be for this sort of crime. We both had injuries and was photographed by the police, and a doctor? Also I am unable to work, he is in full time employment, will I be able to get maintenence for his two children aged 7 and 4. If found guilty how do you think this would affect him to access to his children. He has hit me before but not to the extent of this recent attack. This will be his first offence, he also refused to give me money for the keep of his children, but this is because I won't drop charges?

[sp1814]

Passion35

First of all...really sorry to hear what you've been through. You must be feeling rotten right now...but you've done the rigth thing in protecting your family from your partner.

Second, I've found the following online:

If you were to cause actual injury to an individual, you could be charged with either grievous bodily harm (GBH) or assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH): Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

The current charging guidelines mean that where there is some bruising or scratching the charge is more likely to be common assault rather than ABH.

The maximum penalty for GBH with intent (triable only in the Crown Court) is life imprisonment, for GBH without intent (triable either way) it is five years imprisonment and for ABH (triable either way) it is also five years imprisonment. Common assault can only be tried in the magistrate's court.

The maximum penalty for these offences is six months imprisonment and/or a fine not exceeding �5,000.

One last point...you may want to copy/paste your post into the 'How It Works' section as there's a couple of very good 'legal bods' who go there who might be able to help you with the second part of your question (maintenance for the kids).

I hope your through the worst...have you got family you can talk to?

[Bohne]

He has hit you before, but not to that extend?

Especially with children involved, I think your first concern should be for your own and their safety.
I hope he will not get unsupervised access to his children.
I also hope you are not even dreaming of getting back together with him.

Apart from that I wish you all the very best for the future.
I am sure it all will fall into place, eventually.

[mike1222]

Hindsight is wonderful - you should have got out of this relationship after he hit you for the first time - he was always going to do it again. Men who resort to assaulting women and girls are basically weak individuals and are inadequate and cowards, so you should not take any of his threats seriously and should continue with the legal action.

It's very difficult to comment on what punishment he can expect without knowing the exact circumstances of the assaults and also the reaction of our weak and inconsistent justice system cannot be predicted.

Just make sure that you do not drift back into this relationship!!

[JudgeJ]

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm is charged under the 1861 Offences against the Person Act. It is what is known as an �either way� offence, which means it can be dealt with either in the magistrates� court or before a judge and jury at the Crown Court.

Where it is held firstly depends upon the magistrates. If they think it is too serious for them to deal with (see below) they will commit the matter to the Crown Court. If they believe it is suitable for the lower court, the defendant has a final right to opt for trial by judge and jury.

If your ex pleads guilty there will, of course, be no trial, but the same option of escalation to the Crown Court for sentencing is open to magistrates.

From the limited info you have provided this sounds serious enough for the prosecution to request it is heard in the higher court. The injuries to your daughter (broken bones) certainly seem serious enough on their own.

Sentencing guidelines suggest custody as the starting point for this offence. The judge (or magistrates if it is retained in their court) will need to be convinced that there are good reasons reduce the sentence to a community-based penalty.

The matter of maintenance and access needs to be sorted out properly. Seek advice from a solicitor or the CAB. My own advice is, whatever the outcome, get yourself and your children as far as possible away from this man immediately.

[LaLaLand2006]

I agree with Bohne. You seem more concerned with how his behaviour will affect his access to his children. It is a horrible situation to be in, my Mum suffered at the hands of my father and is are some of my earliest memories - but they separated when I was very young. It was the best (and probably hardest) decision she ever had to make. And I honestly dread to think how my life would have been had they stayed together. It isn't always best that parents stay together "for the sake of the children", or even that they have access to the children (well not until they've faced up to and are actively trying to sort their problems). There is nothing to say that if your partner seeks help for his anger, that he can become a good father to your children. But that is in the future, and you have to accept the possibility that maybe he won't. Your immediate thoughts need to be for the safety of you and your children. It's an old cliche (but cliche's only become so because they're true) that if he'* *** you before but "not to this extent"... that he probably will hit you again. And now he'* ******* the children...Everyone will be giving you lots of advice and opinions but you're the only one that make any decisions about your situation. Talking to someone who specialises in abusive relationships and the emotional, legal, practical and financial implications will help.

Women's Aid have an excellent website with all sorts of information http://www.womensaid.org.uk/

and a 24hour Freephone helpline: 0808 2000 247

I wish you all the best for the future and remember to think of yourself and children through all this. You're not responsible for your partner's actions - or the consequences of his actions.

Take care.

[LaLaLand2006]

PS, Please excuse the ***** in my earlier post. Technical problems. Should read "he has hit your before" and "now he is hitting the children"

[madham]

I don't know the answer to any of your questions, but I think it shows strength of character that you are here to tell the tale. I admire you and recommend all women in the same situation to get out and report them, please keep you and your children safe and best of luck and love for the rest your lives, take care Melanie x x x