Food & Drink2 mins ago
gbh
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.similar link a few days ago where my limited legal knowledge may be of assistance.
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question159697.html
what i will ask is the MOD PLOD investigating or local fuzz? My advice would be not to tell the powers that be you are coming out of the forces. It will go a long way trust me.
Look up Sect 3 of the Criminal Law Act and LEARN IT WORD PERFECT. This will be your only defence. A solicitor will know this and advise accordingly. However, any subsequent interview or court appearance it will be you doing the talking.
Also I would opt for a character reference from your Brig. What Regiment are you?, if you want to tell me. Myself an Officer in Royal Intelligence Tri-Service Corps. Man and boy.
Good luck soldier. If what you are saying is the truth, lets hope justice is proven.
I'm afraid it's the bit about punching him repeatedly that may hamper any defence about it being in the heat of the moment. Set against that, if it's your first ever offence, that should count for something - not enough to get you off scot free, but it's the "previous good character" angle your brief wants to hammer home.
Psst! Off the record - you dished out a beating to a "man" who thinks it's OK to hit women, did you? Well, not that I condone violence of course but...good for you!
So basically I assume everyone had drunk too much alchohol.
What did your girlfriend do or say to provoke this bloke? (I know that's no excuse for a bloke to punch a woman, but a relevant question.... equality and all that)
How many times did he punch your girlfriend, just once or repeatedly and how many times did you in defending your girlfriend hit this bloke.
How long have you been going out with your girlfriend?
How and why are you getting out of the army?
Your best line of defence is post traumatic shock syndrome and the blokes face was like a yo-yo and just kept coming back at me.
1. Sees the offence as self defence although he was not threatened.
2. Used force which could not be considered to be reasonable in any circumstances.
3. Apparently acts instinctively with considerable violence despite all the training he has received not to - clearly he has been in the Army for a while. Has he learned nothing?
4.. Wonders whether he will get in a lot of trouble - I would think basic forces training and discipline would have made this blingingly obvious
5. Instead of getting suitable advice, takes the time to ask a set of faceless individuals whose backgrounds are unknown for help.
If this person is for real, the dumbing down and deterioration of this country is far worse than I thought and we should all worry, particularly about the standard of those who are protecting us in the "War on Terrorism".
Wind up.
I agree with Danny, but not so much about the wind up but about the stupidity of someone fter having received training. Everyone here has been so "oh poor you". In my opinion, you went way over the top in your protection of your girl. It was NOT self defence, if it was, the guy would have punched you first.
OK, the guy shouldn't have hit your girl but there were other options, like calling the police and having him charged.
it all started in the night club when this bloke came and tryed to get of with my girlfriend by grabbing her arse and trying to snog her she was trying to get him off of her by pushing him but he kept on coming back so i warned him by grabbing him by his collar and letting him know i was there and with her, little did i know that there was a bouncer next to me and i got chucked out but i didnt punch or did anything to him.
then my girlfriend and i went to sit in some benches by the club to eat some chips and wait for couple of friends to come out to go home next thing i know this bloke came out andstarted giving me some abuse telling me he wanted a fight with me one on one and he was with some of his mates so he must of thought that i would be scared for some reason so i walked towards him knowing that i would probably get batterd by him and his mates but i didnt want to show that for some reason.so then as girls do, my girlfriend got in the middle of the argument and i was a good meter and a half away from him and he swang a punch that hitted my girl on the face and knocked her out on the road, by this time i went for him and we both fell on the floor...i was hitting him repeatedly becouse he was"""" still hitting me"""" but i've seen the cctv and its all quick i was fighting for 6 seconds and some girl that i know pulled me away from him so i got up, got my girl up and walked away. this block got up and carried on giving me abuse wich is unreal if you ask me... we walked away and he stayed there but one of his mates followed me down the road shouting all sorts of stuff to me and eventually another one of his mates was coming from the other side ""they way we where walking towards""
DannyDingbat had a point in the first post that appears now.
Unfortunately this whole thread is difficult to understand as the ED continues to persue this irritating policy of removing a post that is complained about, but leaving in posts that are a reaction to it. Therefore it's a bit tricky to understand how this thread developed.
Chris - Danny's advice appears accurate to me... in the sense that it seemed you used unreasonable defence and drunkeness is no defence. The other problem you have is that in many cases, when you cause injuries such as those you describe, it often doesn't matter if you meant it or not. In the link the WM gave you, I spoke about a woman to MEANT to throw a pint in another woman's face, but accidentally threw the whole glass. I know this may seem really harsh, but if it were the other way round, then you'd probably want the guy in a lot of trouble for breaking your jaw, whether he meant to or not.
gotta go - will post more later
Right, all else I was gonna say is - get yourself a lawyer, and be honest with him or her, but then take their advice and stick to it. And also, in court, when you say "this is my first and last offence" for god's sake don't say "HOPEFULLY my last offence"!!!!!!! You have to assure the judge that it was a total one off and that you will never do it again. Show that you do understand that you should never resort to violence as a civilian and that hitting people is wrong and that you should have walked away much earlier. This might not be how you feel, but you will have to say that. DON'T even HINT that the guy deserved it - he might have done, but for god's sake don't let the judge know that you think that!!!
Also, might be worthwhile seeking advice from a lawyer with experience in Military trials. I know nothing about these things, but I THOUGHT that if convicted of an offence like GBH by the civvie courts, the Army police could charge you too. It might be that your exit from the army becomes more something of THEIR choice, than yours!!!
Otherwise, by all means protect your girlfriend, but for god's sake do it calmly. The last thing you want now is ANOTHER charge - then you might end up doing time (although it's unlikely, it's still possible).
I wish you luck in finding places to drink where your girlfriend won't get chatted up, and in finding calmer ways to deal with the situations. Everyone gets rage now and then, and it does sound like you don't plan on using your fists again! Good luck! :-)