Not Charged Or Arrested But Summoned To Appear At Court

[laynaxxx]

Hello, 5 months ago my daughter was involved in a row with another girl in a nightclub, the row lead to a few people getting pushed & my daughter got shoved to the floor, she got picked up by a bouncer & told to leave the club. A month later the police called her & wanted my daughter to attend the police station which was in the same town as the club, when she attended she was told a girl had been hurt & the police wanted to know what my daughters involvement was, she made a brief statement saying she had been at the club on the night in question & was slightly involved in the row but was not responsible for anyone getting hurt as she had been pushed on the floor. She was not charged or given a date to return, the police officer said if she didn't hear back within 3-4 weeks then there would be no further action. Today we have just has a local policeman come around to tell her she has been summoned to attend court next week (in the same area as the police station she attended), the local policeman didn't know why she had been summoned as he was passing the message on from a different police station. My question is, if my daughter is going to be prosecuted should she have been arrested & charged first? or is this how the court systems now operate!!!

[jno]

no, she'd be arrested and charged, they can't just grab her off the street and put her in the dock. Beyond that, I can't help but maybe someone will come along and explain.

[boxtops]

If she's been summoned, surely there should be official paperwork delivered to her home address from the court, to confirm this?

[rockyracoon]

Could it be in the capacity of a witness?

[Mamyalynne]

I would expect paperwork not simply a verbal message, tell her to contact either the station she was questioned at or the court she is due to attend.

[jno]

the best thing might be to phone the station and ask. I'm surprised she's been given no information, but perhaps that's the way it's done.

[Elley]

Witness if she was charged that force would have come around and arrested her
Then charged then the court would have written to you with the case in question to prepare a defence

[Elley]

You can also ring the court and ask them the reason speak to admin

[pixie373]

I think she's wanted as a witness, most likely.

[laynaxxx]

Thanks everyone for replying, I did think she would have needed to be arrested & charged before being giving a court date, so I can only assume they must want her to be a witness. I will phone the court tomorrow & see if they can give us some more information

[EDDIE51]

it can only be as a witness , she would HAVE to be charged first otherwise.

[jno]

don't they actually tell you anything about what's up when they call you as a witness, Eddie? I can see people being caught unawares when told to go into the witness box; it hardly seems fair on them.

[EDDIE51]

jno , Yes you will know what case you are being called for normally anyway.
Though I was once called from work by the police to be taken straight to court as a witness. I knew nothing about it in advance. It turned out that a guy who was drinking in the pub where i was a barman went out of the pub and shot his step dad. They wanted to know if I had heard him talking about it and who he was drinking with.

[laynaxxx]

I managed to track someone down that actually new what it was about & it turns out that my daughter is the defendant for an alleged ABH. I told him it was the first we new about it as she has not been charged & he said she doesn't have to be charged as she has been summoned. I said how can she prepare a defense when we don't know what the evidence is against her because as of to date she has never had any documentation regarding the matter. His reply was " I suggest you contact a solicitor" So I am now going to contact a solicitor & I will keep you all updated

[boxtops]

Please do - this seems very odd, that no papers have been served on here. Let us know what the solicitor says. Don't hang around if she's in court next week!

[Baldric]

//she made a brief statement//

which means she can be called, and I believe, must attend as a witness.

[laynaxxx]

Sorry forgot to say "it turns out that the law has changed once again & there is no need to be arrested & charged anymore as we can just be summoned" (which still confuses me)

[FredPuli43]

Minor offences proceed by way of summons. Don't think you'll be summoned for attempted murder! You'll have to see what the summons says. It will have to be served on your daughter, of course. It sounds as though the allegation is not of a serious nature.

[EDDIE51]

Fred, surely the actual summons must be served, not just a message passed on by a policeman who knows nothing about what has happened? This seems very 'iffy' to me.

[laynaxxx]

I have spoken to a solicitor (which I have to pay for) & he seems to think everything is correct & above board, he said the prosecution have started issuing a summons for minor offences, (I have since read up on ABH & it does not sound minor) I told him we did not know this was still pending & it has come as a total shock as we have never had any letters or paperwork regarding this matter so how can we prepare a defense as we don't no anything about the evidence against my daughter. He said don't worry nothing will happen on the first court appearance as that is when he can apply for the disclosure. So I have to take a day of work to take my 25 yr old daughter (she has recently had a total hip replacement & will not be able to travel the distance on public transport) & probably have to sit around all day waiting just to find some information as to what is actually happening. I am still really confused about the whole situation but I will update you all accordingly. Thanks for all your replies

[FredPuli43]

We don't know if it is abh. But abh is minor, whatever you have read up. It's an assault which causes some injury, which injury is not very serious; it can be tried in the magistrates' court, which gives you an idea of how serious, or not, it is.