Very Serious Family Issue

[dandan112]

hi a couple of months ago there was a family argument which has lead me getting charged for section 18..the story goes like this my brother was being aggressive and violent towards my mother he had punched through walls and a door and my tv, I went into my kitchen and slipped with a glass in my hand and it flew at him ( this was unintentional ) as he was still in rage he started lashing out at me trying to place my head on the counter with all the broken glass, I managed to get him off me as my mum came in hysterical. he went into the living room being violent towards my mum again as I herd screaming and shouting at this time I was cleaning the kitchen of all the broken glass . and on the side there was a knife I picked up to clean the sides and I herd my mum scream and start crying . I ran into the living room without knowing I still had the knife in my hand he chucked something at me ( no idea what it was ) . by this time I though to my self get him out of the house and tell him to go for the night to someone else's house for it to all calm down so I went back of around the back of the house as I could not get past as my mum was in the way so went around to the from still not knowing I had the knife as it wasn't the first thing on my mind , I came to the front of the house and he chucked a wheelie bin at me I dived over it to stop it hitting me and the knife puncherd his body . all my family are on my side and want to make statements on how vindictive he is .My solicitor has put a plea in for section 20. although my brother has dropped charges "cps" have decided to go along with the case .If I go to prison there are many thing in the way as Im a 21 year old apprentice nearly finished my apprentice in a world renowned company which ill lose if I go prison I also have to pay my apprenticeship fees if I go prison . ill be In debt as I had to get a loan out for car insurance I have my phone bill to pay which I wont be able to pay any of them if I lose my job . there is one last factor my "brother" will lose nearly all his family if I go to prison 80% of them said they would disown him. So there's a family on stake with the judges decision .Could I please have your views? many thanks

[trt]

I assume you are male and how old is your brother, has he got a criminal record?

[dandan112]

yes Im male and 21 years old he is 18 and only thing he's got against him is possession of marijuana

[EDDIE51]

There is another way of looking at what you have said.
During a violent fight, I took a broken glass and threw it at my brother,that failed to stop him and he threw a bin at me. So I took a knife jumped over the bin and stabbed him in the stomach.
THAT is the version the prosecution are going to put before the court !
What I find hard to believe is that in the middle of this fight, with your mother still being attacked you did not go and help your her, but decided to start clearing the kitchen by using a knife. I think a jury would share my disbelieve.
My advice is to plead guilty and hope you can get away with a S20 instead of S18. That way you stand a good chance of staying out of jail.

[anneasquith]

best answer award.....................interesting !

[EDDIE51]

Yes anneasquith, the questioner has made a mistake in thinking divebuddy's answer is serious when it is a joke intended to underline the fact that the defence offered is hard to believe.

[atalanta]

It sounds from your account that your brother spent at least 4, if not 5 days in hospital. The NHS is so busy and so strapped for cash that they would never keep a patient in hospital a moment longer than necessary, so this sounds really quite a serious matter. The fact that he went out the day after his release from hospital does not mean that the hospital considered it a trivial injury. I don't expect the court to consider it trivial, either.

[joko]

have to agree with eddie here - your 'explanations' of how you managed to 'accidentally' glass and a stab your brother in the middle of a fight just sound ludicrous and you will find it hard to get a jury to believe them

[black_cat51]

hi, unfortunate;y the domestic violence aspect will push up any sentence received if you are found guilty and to me it seems fairly unlikely you could get away without a custodial sentence. Im not sure that having your family at stake will make any difference to the sentence (after all that's probably true for a lot of people).

[yqg33f]

Hold your hands up. plead guilty. You'll probably end up with 18 months, of which you will only do 9 months. If you are not known to the Police you may even get a community sentence. If it goes to Crown Court I fear you will have difficulty convincing the jury you 'forgot' you had a knife in your hand.