Hi My Son Came Home Drunk And Threatened My Husband Police Were Called And My Son Arrested.

[greekygirl]

the police took statements from myself and husband and my son has been remanded on bail not to contact myself or my husband. today i recieved a letter telling me i have to attend court. when the statement was given from myself the police officer asked me if i would attend court. I told him that i would not.... Do i still have to attend . Thank you

[EDDIE51]

If you fail to attend you will be issued with a summons to attend.
You need to attend court to answer any questions about your statement.
If you fail to attend your statement is likely to be dismissed, and the case against your son dropped. Remember you can not reinstate the proceedings if the case is dropped ! .
Also once you have made a statement it can not be 'withdrawn ' ( contrary to popular opinion and TV 'soaps'!)all you can do is to issue a new statement saying why the original statement was wrong.

[Togo]

I understand what Eddie says greeky, but take care and get some legal advice. Has you Husband been told he must attend court? Remember that if you withdraw or change statements already given, the Police may charge you with wasting Police time. Indeed if the case is heard and proven, and you have attempted to alter the outcome with a revised statement, you could find yourself accused of perjury.

[atalanta]

At the very least, please do contact the Citizens Advice Bureau. They have all sorts of knowledge and expertise in this kind of problem, as well as many other areas.

[Peter Pedant]

yes you have to attend
this comes up a lot of time so have a burrow in this Law thread

and it boils down to
a) no you should not call the police in the first place unless you wish to follow through
b) yes if you are required to turn up somewhere - surprise surprise you have to turn up at the address at the required time
c) no you often dont have control over the process or its speed or its likely outcome
d) no you cant terminate everything by saying - oo I dont have a thing to wear in court/ I want to withdraw my statement / I was lying to the police

and yes going to the citizens advice bureau is a good idea ....

[EDDIE51]

The son has been remanded in custody , so that the police consider the matter to be so serious that he has been refused bail ( which would normally be granted in this type of case) So just to clarify 'YES' you do have to attend court. If you do not go voluntarily you can be summonsed to attend or even arrested and brought to court !
You and your husband will have to attend court and you will both be questioned separately about your statements and what happened. With a remand to custody there must be a strong chance that this will be a prison sentence for your son so you really do need to go to court!

[New Judge]

He’s been remanded on bail, Eddie, not in custody. Just for information the decision to remand in custody or on bail does not depend on the seriousness of the charge (until you get to the very serious stuff such as murder and manslaughter where the nature and seriousness of the offence itself, and the likelihood of a lengthy custodial sentence makes a remand in custody inevitable, usually on the basis that the accused may abscond). The Bail Act 1976 provides a right to bail unless it can be shown there are grounds to suspect that the accused will either (a) abscond, (b) commit further offences or (c) interfere with the course of justice (particularly, interfere with witnesses). In this case bail conditions have been set to address any fears the court had.

Nonetheless the advice is the same. The incident you describe, greekygirl, is one of “domestic violence”. The CPS have a policy of continuing to prosecute DV matters with or without the victim’s co-operation wherever possible. Because you said you would not be willing to attend court when you made your statement does no exclude the possibility that you may be asked to do so. At the moment that is all that has been done – you have been asked to attend. However, you will be expected to. If you do not the prosecution may ask for a witness summons to be issued against you. This will be served on you telling you when and where to attend. If you fail to answer that summons as directed you can be arrested and held in custody to be brought before a court.

Your son has obviously pleaded not guilty to whatever it is he’s been charged with. The prosecution need your evidence to support their case and your son has objected to it being read to the court. He wants you in court to be cross-examined. (More likely, though, is that he has been advised to ask for your presence in the hope that you do not attend). Contrary to what has been said you don’t need any legal advice or CAB intervention. (You have no right to legal representation in court so legal advice is somewhat pointless). There’s nothing anybody can tell you other than all you need to do is turn up on the appointed day and give your evidence. The alternative is a likely witness summons with the consequences I mentioned above.

[Peter Pedant]

thx NJ clear post

[Peter Pedant]

god dammit - I thought he had been remanded in custody

but as NJ would advise : ready the bl++dy question
and it clearly says he hasnt .....

I am having a bad week - sozza