My Son Has Been Charged With Common Assault, He Has A Previous Conviction For Growing Cannabis?

[Irisw]

He got into a row with his then girlfriend, who was kicking and punching him, he was shouting at her to get off him and he was trying to hold her off and push her away, she had a 'suspected' broken finger during the fracas the solicitor has said. He was acting in self defence but She called the police on Him, he didn't hang around, as he has a previous unrelated conviction for growing cannabis, and didn't want to go back to prison again. He was arrested 2 weeks later and charged with common assault. After being to the magistrates he has been bailed to appear again. I would be grateful for your knowledge on this sort of topic. I'm worried sick.

[murraymints]

his word against hers ! legal beagles will be along... I'd "no comment" if there are no other witnesses and would be surprised if it went further..just my opinion though...

[Barmaid]

It is going further Minty. He has been charged and has already appeared at the Mags. Going "no comment" will not help him when he gives evidence particularly as he is running self-defence.

Not really much we can add Iris. What does his solicitor say? I do think he is unlikely to face a custodial though.

[murraymints]

ah right..didn't notice he'd already been up before the beak....

[Canary42]

Custodial unlikely I would have thought, perhaps a "not guilty" verdict even, in spite of the influence of the current feminazi Metoo movement where women's claims prevail even after 20 years or more.

[Irisw]

Yes it's very much her word against his, as there are no witnesses. Also how can someone have a suspected broken finger? Either it's broken or not, an xray, which has not been given, would have proved either way. That is the only thing the CPS have after making their enquiries, i.e her medical records. Furthermore, she would have sustained this injury when she was hitting seven bells out of him. Surely though, they can not take a previous unrelated conviction into account?

[Irisw]

They are also waiting on the recording of the call to the police to determine how distressed she was. Apart from that, what have they to go on? Thank you to all who are answering, i'm too old for all this :-(

[Baldric]

///suspected broken finger///
Does anyone know if it was broken or not?

[Irisw]

No one knows Baldric, the solicitor, the court, police, no one. It must be on her statement, that's all I think.

[Buenchico]

As with all assault offences, 'common assault' is placed into one of three categories by the courts (with Category 1 being the highest level and Category 3 being the lowest). A custodial sentence CAN'T be handed down by a court for a Category 3 or Category 2 offence. Even for a Category 1 offence the 'starting point' sentence (from which magistrates have to work up or down) is still NON-custodial.

So it's only offences at the VERY top end of Category 1 which could see someone who's been convicted of common assault sent to prison. That would require 'harm' to be at the highest point consistent with a charge of 'common assault' (rather than 'ABH') and 'culpability' also to be at the very top end of the scale.

e.g. someone who deliberately sought out a vulnerable person to 'rough them up a bit', resulting in the victim being afraid to leave their home, might end up in prison for 'common assault' because 'culpability' was extremely high (i.e. it was a planned attack on a vulnerable victim) and 'harm' would be classed as 'high' too (because of the psychological effect of their actions).

So, other than the really extreme type of circumstances in my example above, it's simply not possible for a court to send someone to prison for common assault. Your son will almost certainly end up with nothing more than a community order if he's convicted.

See pages 23 to 26 here to see exactly what the magistrates will have in front of them:
https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Assault_definitive_guideline_-_Crown_Court.pdf

[New Judge]

Presumably he's entered a "Not Guilty" plea (on the basis of self-defence). That being the case, his solicitor will be best placed to advise him as to the chances of an acquittal. He should be told that a "self-defence" argument will not succeed simply on the basis that "she hit me first". Although there are no other witnesses, many cases such as this are brought to court and it is a matter of which version of events the Magistrates prefer on the day.

In the event he is convicted, as 'Chico has explained very succinctly, custody is extremely unlikely. although being a domestic violence matter aggravates the offence there has to be quite a few other aggravating factors present to see the offence cross the custody threshold. Only if he is convicted will the court learn of his cannabis conviction and it should have little or no influence on the sentence imposed.

A possible disposal which his solicitor may explore with the prosecution is a Restraining Order (without a conviction). If your son agrees (and it is acceptable to the prosecution who will consult the alleged victim) the court can impose a restraining order keeping the two parties apart and the prosecution will be discontinued. But I'm sure his solicitor knows of that avenue of approach.