will he go to prison

[worriedsick]

my relative has been charged with a b h section 47.
against a friend of his girl friend she is female it took place at a house party.when they were all drunk.now she has pressed charges and he has pleaded guilty . what will the outcome be at court.he has never been in any kind of trouble like this before, it is the first time
i am very worried he will be sent to prison
thank you

[streeboi]

Ok....hard to give you a specific answer with such few details (depends on the court he is in, how much he'd drank etc)

First time offence he is VERY unlikely to go to prison although it does depend who sentences him! The fact he was drinking certainly doesnt help his case- courts HATE alcohol fuelled crime! but like i say...first offence - very unlikely!

[worriedsick]

he was in court last week and solicitor told him to get as many character references as possible. do you think they will help him stay out of prison, when i say drunk i dont mean that they wre over the top drunk
i am beside myself with worry and cant think about any thing else
thank you

[Annlinda]

New guidelines for Assault causing actual bodily harm suggest that under certain mitigating circimstances a non-custodial sentence may be justified in the case of a first time offender pleading guilty, Key factors are the level of culpabilty the prosecution must prove that the force used was intentional or recklessly used on another, if a weapon used or kicking or stamping or if the assault was planned before a custodial sentence is passed.

[worriedsick]

it was not intentionally predicted.
but the girl was saying that he hit he a few times.
now it as gone to court she has written a character reference for him to say that they were good friends and that it was not like him to do any thing bad.
how will her letter go in court do you think it will help
as he never been in trouble before
thank you

[Annlinda]

Letter may help him. If she felt she wasable to go to court and let the legal advisor know she was there to support him that may help him as well

[worriedsick]

the girl says she cant get to court as she has children.
he been to see probation and they say that they will recomend community work
what do you think
thanks

[Annlinda]

If the probation officer was asked by magistrates to prepare a pre-sentence report they indicate the type of report needed i.e.commumity based or all options
the bench usually go along with probation recommendations,

[worriedsick]

thank you i feel a bit better for your reply.
have you ever known anyone go away first offence

[ethandron]

Well I think that he should go to prison.
A man hit a girl a few times causing actual bodily harm. His excuse, I was drunk.
Prison might make him think twice before doing it again.

[worriedsick]

thank you
may be you dont have children of your own.
if you have i hope you dont have to get in this situation.
we are to be there for our kids.what ever the problem

[ethandron]

Yes I do have children of my own and they have been brought up properly to be law abiding citizens. If one of my sons did do something like this (albeit I know that it would never happen) then I would expect them to go to prison.

How often have we heard that its the parents fault for how children end up. And just for the record our sons are in their late 20's.

[worriedsick]

mine has never done anything out of character before.
so you can never say that it wont happen, you don that until it does.my son is a loving boy

[mycats]

You're son is a loving boy? yeah untill he is punching some girl at a party!

[Doc_Spock]

Hang him, and get yourself a dictionary.

[ethandron]

regardles of what your son has been like in the past, the fact that he has now commited a criminal offence means he should suffer the consequences of his actions. you can go on and on making excuses for him, but the best thing is he takes his punishment for the crime he's commited and uses the experience to make sure he thinks twice in the future before he gets so out of control that he assaults someone.
you're actually doing him no favours by trying to excuse his behaviour.

[worriedsick]

thanks .bye

[yummymummy08]

how would you feel as the girls mum? maybe you should look at it that way.

[worriedsick]

thank you
i do understand what you mean.but the girl in question beat him with a stilletto shoe and he just lashed out at her.
they are both sorry about what has happened

[Drisgirl]

My husband punched me a few weeks ago - first time -I got the Police in because you cant excuse that behaviour and at the end of the day time will tell if it was the wake up call he needed.
In answer to your Q -Scottish Law is different but I would assume that in those circumstances the outcome would be the same.
I appeared in court -I didnt want my pound of flesh -I didnt want him to lose his job -I didnt want him to get jailed but I wanted him to face the severe consequences of his drunken actions.
We were visited by a social worker for background reports -a few of the details werent read out in court at my behest as they would have impacted on innocent third parties.The Sheriff did however take at least 10 minutes deliberating whilst he read thro the report and obviously some of the comments were taken into consideration.
He after an anxious wait was fined �500 and ordered to pay me �300 compensation -highly unusual especially husband to wife.He has to pay this to the courts and they in turn will give me the money.
I am posting this -as on the night in question I came on here in a blind panic-I was given tremendous support from my fellow ABers -I had no-one to turn to at that time

Its very worrying but you have to harden yourself -pander to them and they think they have been absolved.
Let him know just how serioius you deem it !!

BTW -he was told in NO uncertain terms that should there be a next time he will face a custodial sentence.

I hope this helps you.

[EDITORS GIMP]

and i hope your hubby as changed his ways drisgirl
i had a father who was very abusive to my mother
he never changed his ways. most men of that nature cannot change theirs ways and it only stopped when my mother (god rest her soul)walked out on him.
i would not just worry about a prison sentence for your boy
worriedsick i would worry in case your boy becomes a repeat offender.