The Court: Frankston Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Hayden Brodie
The Charges:
The Allegations:
The client was a passenger on a train when a woman with whom he had previously had a family dispute also boarded the train. Looks were exchanged, and shortly before the client exited the train, he approached the complainant. The client proceeded with a verbal barrage against the complainant and then exited the train.
The complainant in her statement alleged that during the verbal abuse, the client put something sharp on her back and made threats to kill her before he fled, exiting the train.
The client was arrested shortly after the complainant reported the matter to police.
At Court:
The incident took place on a train and was captured on CCTV. After requesting and viewing the CCTV footage, it became clear that the client did indeed approach the complainant and verbally abuse her. The footage showed the pair arguing, with the complainant appearing agitated and the client standing with his hands in his pockets for most of the encounter.
However, the footage also clearly showed that the client did not approach the complainant from behind with a weapon. The client had never even been behind the complainant during the footage.
There were inconsistencies between the complainant’s statement to police and what was visible on CCTV. The complainant said in her statement to police that our client had threatened her with a weapon, but the footage showed no evidence of any weapon being used, but rather them at a clear distance during the moment in time.
These contradictions undermined the reliability of the complainant’s account, which would have ultimately affected the prosecution’s case.
Following a case conference with a police prosecutor in the morning of court, our solicitor presented the CCTV footage to the prosecutor and indicated that the complainant’s statement was inconsistent with the footage, affecting the reliability of their witness; consequently, the charges against the client should be withdrawn.
The Outcome:
The prosecution reviewed the footage and agreed with our position, withdrawing all charges against our client. This was a fantastic outcome for the client as he avoided criminal proceedings and any finding of guilt.
