self defence

[ryansmith111]

can i use a plea of self defence if the person started punching me first ,then i swung my arms back hitting him with my beer bottle accidently, hes dening even have a fight with me (hes lying),now he's saying i glassed him after he tried to stop my argueing with his friend in his statment which i seen he saying, he was the peacemaker but i have a witness saying he seen him throw first punches at me,would this self defence,one more thing after first fight he came at me again 3/4 mins later and started again,any decent answers plaese.

[Tichfield]

The question is "Would a reasonable person use a bottle as a weapon to defend themself against an unarmed person?"

It would depend on the circumstances, but I doubt you would get away with saying you used the bottle accidently.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

self defence is by reasonable force,using a beer glass or bottle is not reasonable force.so no,you cannot clain wself defence.

[ryansmith111]

i'm not saying i hit him on purpose with bottle he struck me 2/3 times i was facing other way when i swung arms back

[Supernick]

I can't really imagine this scenario. He's punching you, you turn your back on him, and the start windmilling your arms with a bottle in your hand???

[ryansmith111]

supernick,i was argueing with his friend,i then was about to walk away turned then he came at me from behind hit ne 2/3 times i stumbled forward a step he went to punch again then i swung arms around to stop his punches coming,didn't even know i caught him,fight continued for maybe 10 secs ,went back to girfriend ,5 mins later came at me again,surly i have i have a defence if he started fight twice,and is lying in statement about not even having fight with me

[bananie]

self defence can only be justified by using force to repel an attack when if fear of life or limb and must be in proportion to the attack perpetrated on you. eg if someone punches you and you punch them back, that is in proportion, to use a weapon after you have been punched would not constitute proportionality and therefore your plea of self defence may fail. You must also use the 'retreat' option i.e if there is a chance of escaping from the attack, you must use this rather than defend yourself. For a charge of Assault to be proven, the court would require to establish the requisite mens rea (mental intent) to injure. If the rules of self defence are missing you may be criminally liable and may actually be charged with an aggravated assault.