The Court: Broadmeadows Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Mario Saoud
The Charges:
The Allegations:
Our client was a 35-year-old male who was living with his uncle and his uncle’s family in Melbourne’s north. One night, the client was in bed, and his uncle’s partner had come into the bedroom to talk to him. The uncle came home to find his partner on the client’s bed in the bedroom. The uncle was furious and in a jealous rage, the uncle started to attack the client. A physical altercation ensued and ended when our client punched the uncle.
The uncle’s partner called triple 000, who attended a short time later. Upon attendance, police took statements from the uncle and his wife and later arrested our client.
At Court:
The uncle was making many claims in his statement that were not supported by the evidence. The uncle’s statement and that of his partner differed in that the uncle’s statement claimed our client had started the altercation, whereas the partner’s statement stated that our client was hit first.
Our solicitor had lengthy discussions with prosecutors during summary case conferencing to see whether prosecution would withdraw the charges. The police prosecution’s position was that they would withdraw the charges of Intentionally Causing Injury and Common Assault for a guilty plea to the charge of Threat to Kill. The client instructed us to contest the matter.
The Outcome:
The matter was taken to contest mention (a court hearing designed to facilitate further discussions between police and defence), and negotiations with the prosecutor took all day. Finally, the prosecutor was prepared to withdraw all charges against our client, provided that he would not seek costs against the police. The client accepted this offer, and the matter was withdrawn in court.
The client was thrilled with this outcome.
