The Court: Ringwood Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Ashleigh Wallace
The Charges:
The Allegations:
An altercation between the client and his long-term partner occurred early in the morning. The neighbours overheard the verbal argument and contacted the police, advising them they could hear a young woman screaming from the address.
The police attended the address and, before entering, heard an altercation taking place. They eventually knocked on the door, entered the premises, and spoke to the client and his partner. The police talked to the client’s partner but did not take a formal statement from her. They also photographed her injuries.
The photographs revealed bruising to the left side of her face, scratches and bruising to the left side of her neck, left shoulder and upper arm.
The police formed the view that an assault occurred, perpetrated by the client. The allegations were that the client had strangled his partner and had pushed her to the ground and kicked her to the side of the head, clearly, severe allegations.
The client was arrested and issued with a Family Violence Safety Notice, precluding him from entering his home and having any contact with his partner.
These charges can lead to an immediate term of imprisonment, even for first-time offenders.
The client’s instructions were that after a verbal altercation had taken place, he had awoken to find the complainant assaulting him (which was consistent with his physical injury to the face) and that he had defended himself during this altercation. His instructions were consistent with his record of interview.
Our solicitor advised the client that he may have a valid defence of self-defence.
At Court:
Following negotiations with the prosecution, it became clear that the victim’s partner had not provided a statement to the police and had refused to do so. Despite this, the police persisted with the criminal charges and the application for an intervention order.
The case against the client was based purely on the evidence of the informant and his corroborator and their observations, evidence of what the neighbour heard and photographic proof of injuries to the partner taken at the home address.
Our solicitor believed that the evidence was insufficient to convict the client. Further, it was clear the police had taken a biased view by not taking pictures of our client’s injuries.
The Outcome:
Following negotiations during a summary case conference, the criminal charges against our client were withdrawn very early.
Given the serious nature of the allegations, the client was fortunate to have sought our assistance as soon as possible, thereby achieving the best possible outcome: the withdrawal of the charges.
