gbh

[chrisSellars]

im been acused of GBH but wat i done was self defence in my eyes, some bloke dicided to punch my girlfriend in the face so i acted instinctly and punched him repetedly and ended up bracking his jaw, nose and cheek bone. im in the army but im getting out very soon, do you think im goin to get in alot of trouble?? HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

[chrisSellars]

PS: this is my first ever offence and hopefully my last

[loudickson71]

dude, is that your real name? If it is, you are compromising your case by discussing it here.

[B00]

chris- get yourself a good solicitor.....and ignore twonks like dannydingbat, good luck :-)

[chrisSellars]

no is not my name mate just useing my mates laptop and it put his name in it

[chrisSellars]

thanks BOO...!! i have but its just taking too long is stressing me out!!!

ps: dont worry about dannydingbat it dont bother me at all

[chrisSellars]

hello dannydingbat sorry to upset you in any sort of way but if i cant spell properly im trying and im preaty sure you cant do my job and face everything i've faced becouse its people like me that make sure you live the life you've got now...

[maggie01]

You had every right to stick up for your girlfriend, but perhaps you went a little too far. Hope the're not too hard on you. Another thing which has nothing to do with your question. Why do people on these sights keep harping on about how people spell things or whether you have a comma or full stop in the right place. Does it really matter. You understand what everyone is saying. Sorry about that and Good Luck with your case

[Ward-Minter]

similar link a few days ago where my limited legal knowledge may be of assistance.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question159697.html

what i will ask is the MOD PLOD investigating or local fuzz? My advice would be not to tell the powers that be you are coming out of the forces. It will go a long way trust me.

Look up Sect 3 of the Criminal Law Act and LEARN IT WORD PERFECT. This will be your only defence. A solicitor will know this and advise accordingly. However, any subsequent interview or court appearance it will be you doing the talking.

Also I would opt for a character reference from your Brig. What Regiment are you?, if you want to tell me. Myself an Officer in Royal Intelligence Tri-Service Corps. Man and boy.

Good luck soldier. If what you are saying is the truth, lets hope justice is proven.

[B00]

nicely put maggie-i'm sure correct grammar is the least of chris's problems at the moment, but sadly as in life, there's always one eh?

Seriously chris, hope it goes as well as can be expected for you.....incidently, what bearing will this have on your army career?

[littleoldme]

Quite so - "Chris" didn't come here for an English lesson (especially from someone who spelt 'defence' with a double 'e' on another thread)!

I'm afraid it's the bit about punching him repeatedly that may hamper any defence about it being in the heat of the moment. Set against that, if it's your first ever offence, that should count for something - not enough to get you off scot free, but it's the "previous good character" angle your brief wants to hammer home.

Psst! Off the record - you dished out a beating to a "man" who thinks it's OK to hit women, did you? Well, not that I condone violence of course but...good for you!

[cherrybomb]

So basically I assume everyone had drunk too much alchohol.

What did your girlfriend do or say to provoke this bloke? (I know that's no excuse for a bloke to punch a woman, but a relevant question.... equality and all that)

How many times did he punch your girlfriend, just once or repeatedly and how many times did you in defending your girlfriend hit this bloke.

How long have you been going out with your girlfriend?

How and why are you getting out of the army?

Your best line of defence is post traumatic shock syndrome and the blokes face was like a yo-yo and just kept coming back at me.

[dannydingbat]

I understand the critical comments sent my way. I am, however, convinced this is a wind up as I cannot believe that someone who has been trained at great expense to defend our nation (and some others at the whim of our Government - but that's another thread) can act in this way and not believe they are guilty of a serious offence. I am a lawyer who can give adequate advice on many aspects of the law. However, let's look at the issues which caused me to comment.

1. Sees the offence as self defence although he was not threatened.

2. Used force which could not be considered to be reasonable in any circumstances.

3. Apparently acts instinctively with considerable violence despite all the training he has received not to - clearly he has been in the Army for a while. Has he learned nothing?

4.. Wonders whether he will get in a lot of trouble - I would think basic forces training and discipline would have made this blingingly obvious

5. Instead of getting suitable advice, takes the time to ask a set of faceless individuals whose backgrounds are unknown for help.

If this person is for real, the dumbing down and deterioration of this country is far worse than I thought and we should all worry, particularly about the standard of those who are protecting us in the "War on Terrorism".

Wind up.

[{Dakota}]

I agree with Danny, but not so much about the wind up but about the stupidity of someone fter having received training. Everyone here has been so "oh poor you". In my opinion, you went way over the top in your protection of your girl. It was NOT self defence, if it was, the guy would have punched you first.

OK, the guy shouldn't have hit your girl but there were other options, like calling the police and having him charged.

[chrisSellars]

it all started in the night club when this bloke came and tryed to get of with my girlfriend by grabbing her arse and trying to snog her she was trying to get him off of her by pushing him but he kept on coming back so i warned him by grabbing him by his collar and letting him know i was there and with her, little did i know that there was a bouncer next to me and i got chucked out but i didnt punch or did anything to him.

then my girlfriend and i went to sit in some benches by the club to eat some chips and wait for couple of friends to come out to go home next thing i know this bloke came out andstarted giving me some abuse telling me he wanted a fight with me one on one and he was with some of his mates so he must of thought that i would be scared for some reason so i walked towards him knowing that i would probably get batterd by him and his mates but i didnt want to show that for some reason.so then as girls do, my girlfriend got in the middle of the argument and i was a good meter and a half away from him and he swang a punch that hitted my girl on the face and knocked her out on the road, by this time i went for him and we both fell on the floor...i was hitting him repeatedly becouse he was"""" still hitting me"""" but i've seen the cctv and its all quick i was fighting for 6 seconds and some girl that i know pulled me away from him so i got up, got my girl up and walked away. this block got up and carried on giving me abuse wich is unreal if you ask me... we walked away and he stayed there but one of his mates followed me down the road shouting all sorts of stuff to me and eventually another one of his mates was coming from the other side ""they way we where walking towards""

[january_bug]

DannyDingbat had a point in the first post that appears now.

Unfortunately this whole thread is difficult to understand as the ED continues to persue this irritating policy of removing a post that is complained about, but leaving in posts that are a reaction to it. Therefore it's a bit tricky to understand how this thread developed.

Chris - Danny's advice appears accurate to me... in the sense that it seemed you used unreasonable defence and drunkeness is no defence. The other problem you have is that in many cases, when you cause injuries such as those you describe, it often doesn't matter if you meant it or not. In the link the WM gave you, I spoke about a woman to MEANT to throw a pint in another woman's face, but accidentally threw the whole glass. I know this may seem really harsh, but if it were the other way round, then you'd probably want the guy in a lot of trouble for breaking your jaw, whether he meant to or not.

gotta go - will post more later

[january_bug]

Right, all else I was gonna say is - get yourself a lawyer, and be honest with him or her, but then take their advice and stick to it. And also, in court, when you say "this is my first and last offence" for god's sake don't say "HOPEFULLY my last offence"!!!!!!! You have to assure the judge that it was a total one off and that you will never do it again. Show that you do understand that you should never resort to violence as a civilian and that hitting people is wrong and that you should have walked away much earlier. This might not be how you feel, but you will have to say that. DON'T even HINT that the guy deserved it - he might have done, but for god's sake don't let the judge know that you think that!!!

Also, might be worthwhile seeking advice from a lawyer with experience in Military trials. I know nothing about these things, but I THOUGHT that if convicted of an offence like GBH by the civvie courts, the Army police could charge you too. It might be that your exit from the army becomes more something of THEIR choice, than yours!!!

Otherwise, by all means protect your girlfriend, but for god's sake do it calmly. The last thing you want now is ANOTHER charge - then you might end up doing time (although it's unlikely, it's still possible).

I wish you luck in finding places to drink where your girlfriend won't get chatted up, and in finding calmer ways to deal with the situations. Everyone gets rage now and then, and it does sound like you don't plan on using your fists again! Good luck! :-)

[Octavius]

Has your girlfriend pressed GBH charges against the same person?