ABH

[snugglecuddle]

Hi my now ex-partner is up on charges for ABH on my 8 years old daughter and Common Assault with beating on myself also Common Assault on a bystander who tried to help me. He got very drunk one night and came home and punched my daughter so many times on the side of face she was bruised and swollen badly he also bite the top of her eye. unfortunately i was forced by him and his family to say nothing and they would sort him out also my daughter loved him that much she begged me to say nothing and as much as i didnt want to i did as they wanted then 2wks to the day later i out with few friends when my partner was outside asking to see me so i went outside and he came up to me and punched me straight in the face i was in shock at first then a by-stander got between me and him and my ex-partner punched him to then me again with that the police intervened and took him away with that i went to police station and made full statment about myself and wot he did to my daughter cut it short he has been on bail now for 3 months until thursday last week he was charged with ABH on a minor and 2 counts of common assault with beating and is due in court 2weeks time, if anyone can help by telling me what sort of punishment he will get i would appreciate it i am so worried he will walk away without any justice being done xx

[Eve]

How about organisations such as Women's Aid? They may be able to help with some advice or advise where you can get some good advice from. Other charities who help children who have suffered violence or other abuse from parents could also be a good source of help.

I'm a lawyer but it's not my area I'm afraid so realy can't help with anything more legal, wish I could.

[bobjugs12]

Good thinking jenna. It might be worth giving Childline a call as well, they will have links to people who know about abusive parents and children at risk

[helpmepls]

Wyzard - YES your right.

Its quite "lovely" really,.....to know others are there to offer help. x

We are UNITED lol.

[helpmepls]

Spot on Wyzard!
Its a amazing the help I have recieved online and its strange that you can be comforted by complete strangers........sometimes more so than real life friends. xxx

[helpmepls]

Me & Bez BOTH typed "spot on" to your comment Wyzard,.. at exactly the same time ... See...united!x

[Buenchico]

(2-part answer):

Hi Snugglecuddle. (Love that name BTW!)

Wyzard is certainly trying to look after you. He's posted at least twice tonight, elsewhere on AB, asking for someone to reply to you.

ABH is an offence which can be dealt with solely by a magistrates' court or referred up to a Crown court. Common assault can normally only be dealt with by a magistrates' court but can be dealt with by a Crown court when the charge is accompanied by other more serious charges (such as ABH).

Magistrates will refer a case up to the Crown court if they believe that their sentencing powers may not be great enough. That can happen before a defendant enters a plea or after the defendant has been convicted. It's quite possible that it might happen in this case. If so you need to be aware that there might be a considerable delay before your ex is sentenced. (If the magistrates decide to refer the case to the Crown Court there will be several weeks before they convene again for a committal hearing. Then there will probably be several months before he can enter a plea at the Crown Court. If he pleads 'not guilty' there will then be a few more months before a trial).

[Buenchico]

So you shouldn't necessarily expect that your ex will 'get what he deserves' in the immediate future. However, if we assume that he's eventually convicted, here's the document which judges refer to:
http://www.sentencing...inst-the%20person.pdf
(See page 17)

The sentences there refer to a first-time offender, convicted of a single offence after a trial. An early guilty plea can see a reduction in the sentence. (In the case of a custodial sentence that's usually by one third). Previous convictions (especially for violence) can push the sentencing range higher, as can multiple offences and aggravating factors (such as assault upon a minor).

Without knowing all of the details (such as the extent of the victims' injuries, whether your ex is pleading guilty or whether he's got any previous convictions) it's hard to guess at his sentence, but he might be facing a sentence of 6 to 12 months (of which half will actually be spent in prison).

Chris

[snugglecuddle]

i am overwhelmed with all the advise and help you all have given me i really appreciate wot everyone is doing for me thankyou xx i want to say big thanx to wyzard and bob especially for their help and support with this you both have helped me no end thankyou guys from myself and my children xx i will be checking out wot you all have suggested and will get back to you if i get any results agin thankyou all so much xx

[snugglecuddle]

hi buenchico i have been trying over and over to check out the link you sent me "sentencing" but im not able to go into it for some reason ??? sorry not up on computer tech im afraid xx

[bobjugs12]

Good luck snuggle, let us know how things go

[gester108]

hi snugglecuddle, just briefed over ur question and i am in the same position, i have a violent ex...schedule 1 offender...and have the plan and conferences, he will never be allowed unsupervised contact with ANY children ever if he is convicted of ABH against a minor and will never get custody of ur babies. My thoughts are with you, and try to keep ur chin up thru all the meetngs xx

[snugglecuddle]

Hi thankyou for the link buenchico i have at last viewed the contents and hopefully he will get the max sentence xx

[snugglecuddle]

Hi i been thinking bout all the support and advise you have all given me today so i thought would say hi to you all xx only 3 days now till he appears in court and even now his new girlfriend who also has 2 babies is telling everyone he didnt hurt my daughter and that there is evidence that it could of been 2 other people oh my god why would anyone especially someone with her own babies believe him she knows wot he is capable of cause wots worse is she was my friend until i found out she is with him and has been for over a month it just gets better x well i do hope her kids are safe cause i couldnt bear to see the same thing happen to anyone elses kids xx

[snugglecuddle]

well he went to court today i didnt attend i couldnt face him i have been waiting all day for news and still its 21.30 now and no one has told me anything x i called all people dealing with the case ie social services, the child protection police and even the court its self at 16.30 i got answerphones except the court said call back at 16,50 so i did and no answer then answerphone picked up after 5pm i dont no if he pleaded guilty or not if he got off and has no conditions impossed now or not x i can-not believe the officials in this have not thought about wot i am going through sitting here waiting for a call which obviously im not getting tonight now xx