Please help i dont know what to expect for my partner

[ti_shy3]

Ok i am new to this site as to this upcoming court case. I will start from the beginning and try and keep it as brief as possible. On the 27th feb this year my partner and i went out to celebrate the birth of our baby and to watch a rugby game. My partner works away so we did not go out until approx 6.30pm. We enjoyed watching the match and then decided to go to town with 2 other friends. I used the last of my money to pay for the taxi so straight after getting out of the taxi i went to a cash point about 400 yards from the pub where our 2 friends went into. My partner followed me to the cash point. When i got to machine there was a large mad about 6ft big built thumping and swearing at the machine. I looked at my partner as if to say 'oh dear' then offered my assistance by saying ' do you want me to try my card to see if the machine that is broke or your card' He told me to f off you nosy bitch.. My partner then got into an argument with this man. They were shouting for about a minute then i tried to calm situation down. This only made things worse as again the man insulted me. My partner then left the q and went to stand the other side of the man who was still at cash machine. My partner sdaid' dont speak to my missus like that' The man replied 'what are you going to do about it' and pushed my partner aside with his elbow. This is where my life changed. My partner is of small build and 5ft 7 but they ended up fighting. I immediately stood back against the wall as i know better than to stand in the middle of a fight. The fight must have lasted about 4-5 minutes with them both ending up on the floor.

Then my partner tried to get up but the man grabbed hold of his leg with quite a force. He then said ' unlucky mate you are under arrest' My partner did not hear this but i did. Security ran over from the pub and the man let go of my partners leg.

We then walked across the road and waited for the police who were talking to the man by now!

[NazNomad]

Ok.

[AlBags]

Who said this ...' unlucky mate you are under arrest' ?

and the rest .....?

[sara3]

it's like a cliff hanger at the end of Eastenders..

[anneasquith]

what happened next ?

[ti_shy3]

the streets had police on them due to it being a rugby match day. Also my partners brother had joined us at this point. The policemen asked a few questions and then my partner was walked (uncuffed) to the policestation on the same street. He was then kept in the cells for 16 hours. I found out nothing until later on the next day i rang the police station and asked if the man was indeed a police officer and they confirmed he was metropolitan police. He then went on to explain the different charges and then at the end said but we are going for section 18..... He told me this is normally a stabbing! n oknife was involved. Anyway from there things have gone from bad to worse as we have had copies of the man statement and his wife who is aslo saying that my partner attcked her (she wasnt there and the footage off the cash machine proves this) but the charge for this has still gone to court. My partner offered to plead guilty to a section 20 as he says that perhaps he could have walked away but felt threatned. The cps refused this plea. He is being charged with gbh section 18 and another charge for assault on the mans wife. The staement that i gave has been lost!!!! nobody seems bothered as they have said my statement would not have been taken seriously anyway! Surely this is not fair... I feel like we are being treated differently because it was an off duty police officer. The man has also stated that my partner kicked him 6-7 times in the head and neck.. This was not the case and again the footage shows this.... This has more or less been the main focus of the last 9 months instead of focussing on my child.

I am very scared of the future and reading that if found guilty the minimum is 3 years. I would lose the family home. I have a 3 year old and a 9 month old and simply would not be able to keep up the repayments on my wage from a bank.

Please could someone help me to understand what to expect. We both feel that we are looking at a prison sen

[ti_shy3]

The man said 'unlucky you are under arrest' while he had hold of my partners leg i dont want to use names although it would have made things easier !. i had to re-type as i ran out of characters... I wish it was a scene from eastenders lol x

[anneasquith]

lawyer.................... CAB ?

[NazNomad]

What did your solicitor say?

[sara3]

what evidence will they be producing?

[ti_shy3]

well our solicitor feels like its the best thing now to go to court. The trial is the 22nd and 23rd of november. Only friday we found this out so we have been on egg shells ever since. Our solicitor also said that they would accept the guilty plea to section 20 and that the case againt his wife would get dropped as no evidence of her being there!. But this didnt happen. The man had a bloody nose and black eye.. ive seen the photos that the courts will be producing. My partner suffered 2 broken fingers where the man had bent them back but again this was overlooked. The only evidence is the footage from the cash machine. They could have obtained cctv from the main road but didnt.. It shows the man thumping the keypad. But the police are arguing that because you cant hear what is being said they cant say he was thumping it in aggression! x

[dotty.]

write to this person:
http://en.wikipedia.o..._%28police_officer%29
these people:
http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/
and these:
http://www.mpa.gov.uk/yourviews/comment/

[ti_shy3]

thank you very much i will x x

[dotty.]

if you recount the story exactly as it is here you should have no problem, don't let te bastards grind you down, it sounds like a conspiracy and a cover up and tis so called police officer needs telling

[ti_shy3]

Thats what im thinking but apparantly i am not even being called as a witness its an outrage! If it was a joe bloggs im sure my partner would have been slapped on the wrist and told to leave town...

[fredpuli47]

Leave it to the solicitor. He/she will have statements from prosecution witnesses etc and take it from there. Remember, you've only had this once. Lawyers deal with it every day and have seen it all.(This sounds a familiar story!) If you have questions about what the procedure is, the difference between charges etc we can help you on AnswerBank too, of course.

[tigwig]

I really can't offer you any help or advice but wanted to say that I really feel for you both and what has happened is absolutely disgraceful.
I really hope this wonderful example of a policeman gets what he deserves and doesn't get away with this.
Good luck with the trial and let us know how it goes. Stay strong for your kids, you will get through it no matter what the outcome.

[joko]

if its all on the cctv i dont see the problem...unless your man threw the first punch?

'protecting' someone from being insulted is not self defence

[waterboatman]

I agree with eddie. I don't see their case standing up.