| The gradings of injury from assaults are the result of case law and not an arbitary police devised system, so if your charged with gbh and you don't agree then you'll have to convince a Judge in court. I stand by my origonal statement, that in court the Judge is on one side of the bench, you and the police are both on the other side. You present the facts as you see them, putting the best possible spin on them, obviously, the prosecution presents the same evidence in the worst light, and the Judge decides if it adds up to gbh. If the police don't have a strong case, (even if this is already obvious to you and your council having seen the disclosed evidence they intend to offer in court) then your relying on Judge to decide if the police are mistaken or trying it on. If a lawyer believes in your case they should be prepared to take the case, no win, no fee, (they actually claim double their costs if they win, thats one reason it so popular!)
As an aside, you can also ask to see the evidence the police hold before deciding to accept a Caution, you don't have to admit to anything on paper, the police are not your friends, would the evidence convict you in court? but a Caution is "spent" as soon as its accepted so it doesn't have to be disclosed on most Job or insurance applications, unlike a court conviction which needs to be revealed for 5 yrs. It will however still be a problem if you want a visa to US, NZ, AUST and will be listed in a CRB check, so both have serious consequences, a not guilty result in court doesn't.
Get professional advice, most initial consultations are free, or start at citizens advice.
Anyone else have an opinion/experience?
pete  |