At a preliminary Magistrate court hearing can the judge decide not to proceed?

[Mike25]

I was summons to court by the CPS after I gave a statement to the police about a GBH incident (read my others posts if you want the full story).
My question is at a preliminary Magistrate court hearing can the judge decide not to proceed on insufficient evidence?
The CPS are trying to prosecute me although the police never arrested me on the charge. I can only assume the police thought there was insufficient evidence to arrest me but the CPS think there is enough to find me guilty! Surely the police know better, they took all the evidence!

[optics2b]

Hi Mike

Basically, if there is a crime / offence which is reported to the police then they investigate. If a suspect is identified then that person becomes a suspect. (in your case you were named by a witness via Farcebook). The police will want to formally interview the suspect who now becomes the 'accused'. Depending on certain factors the police can invite you to be interviewed or if say you refused then they will arrest you. (You do not need to be arrested to be interviewed or processed via the justice system). All the evidence will be submitted to the CPS for advice and decision. In your case the CPS has decided to send you to court (you now become the defendant). Because you were not arrested you have been summonsed to attend court.

[optics2b]

Try not to get confused by not having been arrested and not having been charged.

If you are found guilty of the offence then you become the 'offender', but it is for the court to decide whether you are guilty or not.

There has to be sufficient admissible evidence for a prosecution to likely to succeed in a conviction for the matter to be sent to court and the case has to be in the publics interest (although the police do abuse this for their statistics).

Speak to your solicitor about the strength of the evidence against you. If i recall correctly you had been identified by a witness via farcebook and you dispute knowing the person that claims to know you.

[Mike25]

Thanks,
I was idenitifed by a witness claiming to know me from the local disco and says he knows me to talk too! He is lying, i don't go to the local disco and have not seen this guy before in my life. The CPS are bring me to court on this guys lies! The CPS are wasting the tax payers money and wasting my time. My solicitor says the case against me is weak! It just annoys me that the CPS are bring me to court! If the court finds me guilty i will be ruffled around the boa.

[optics2b]

In answer to your original question, cases can and do get discontinued at the early stages of court.

On the information you originally provided I am surprised the police did not test the witness evidence by way of formal identiciation procedures prior to CPS consultation but as i have mentioned before I am not familiar with the Polie and criminal evidence order of NI.

[Mike25]

"ruffled around the boa. " answerbank must have changed what i said, lets just say i will be annoyed!
Optics2b At a preliminary Magistrate court hearing can the judge decide not to proceed on lack of evidence when i state not guilty?

[Mike25]

Thanks for your help. I think the guys would have still picked me out in an identiciation procedure. If someone is found guilty apparently they get a bigger claim from the NI excutive.

[optics2b]

Yes so i hear. Well discuss the matters with your legal team as they will have all the facts, prosecution and defence evidence. Let us know how things develop.

[Mike25]

I will keep in touch. One last thing would the CPS of withheld any of their evidence from my legal team? If not then we are back to the old question is 1 witness statement enough to prove guilty beyond reasonable doubt!

[optics2b]

Yes the evidence is disclosed to your defence team which you will be able to see now that you have been formally sent to court.

And yes a person can be convicted on the strength of evidence from one witness. ( I am not referring specifically to your case).

[Mike25]

I appreciate your help these queries.
I can prove that the (so called) witness is not independant as he has photos with his arm round the victim on his facebook. This is interesting to see how this case will develop, my preliminary hearing is in 2 weeks. I wish it was today!

[optics2b]

It will be interesting as identification matters are complex issues in the court arena and guided by a lot of stated cases.

[Mike25]

Alot of reasonable doubt you mean....

[optics2b]

Yes the ID matter will form a big part of your defence case and how safe any conviction would be

[Mike25]

Can you give me your opinion on likely outcome please?

[optics2b]

I am afraid i can not without seeing all the case facts and having full knowledge of NI procedure, sorry.

[optics2b]

Should read - without having full knowledge etc etc.

[Mike25]

Thanks anyway. I should note the area which the incident happened is full of drugs, travellers, Asians and eastern Europeans. It happened at 2.50am in the morning and is a place that I do not go and have not been too. I am half Asian and the witness statement also states this (someone obviously told him because he does not know me)! I am a civil engineer and will be getting character references from a chartered structural eng, chartered mechanical eng, a research scientist, a senior IT manager and senior recruitment manager. Also I having setup direct debits from my account on a monthly basics for RSPCA over the last 3 years. Will the judge take this into account before the verdict or before the sentence?

[Mike25]

I don't want to sound like a snob but this should show the sort of character I am.

[optics2b]

Yes you need character witnesses which can be presented to the court prior to verdict. Again, your defence team will advice you accordingly on this matter.

[New Judge]

[Two Part Answer]

Without going into the details of your case, or considering the possible final outcome, the procedure is this:

As I understand it from your earlier posts you have been summonsed to the Magistratres’ Court to answer an allegation of GBH (Section 20) to which I assume you intend to plead not guilty. This means a trial will be needed. As S20 is an “either way” offence (which means it can either be dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court or in the Crown Court) the first issue that has to be decided is where it will be dealt with. This decision will be taken in the Magistrates’ Court at the first hearing (unless there is good reason for the matter to be adjourned to a later date).

Magistrates’ courts are usually presided over by a Bench of three magistrates and no judge is involved. (Occasionally the court may be in the hands of a District Judge sitting alone but this is exceptional, especially outside London. Even if this is the case, the procedure is identical). The prosecutor will provide the Bench with details of the alleged offence. This is not given as “evidence” (that is, no witnesses are called, and normally no photographs or CCTV evidence is produced unless it is needed to help the court make its decision on the venue). At this stage the court accepts the prosecution’s version of events “taken at its highest” (i.e. its most serious). If the Bench decides the offence is too serious for them to deal with they will commit the case to the Crown Court (this will be done formally at a subsequent hearing about eight weeks later). If they decide to retain jurisdiction you have the option to elect a Crown Court trial.