sec 18 intent

[commandopaul]

im on trial at the end of the month for section 18 with intent.
its a very long & complicated story but the jist of it being that for some reason 2 men wer making comments to a freind about giving me a beating, i left the club i was in "not drinking" & walikng through town came across one of the men, not knowing they had left the club also! the fella went to hit me but i hit him first, & broke his jaw.
as i walked around the corner there was the other stood with a group, he couldnt of known what had just happened!
upon seeing me he started being abusive & marching towards me bending down to break a bottle as he did so, i was backing up & backed into a wall at this time he was on me & went to hit me with the bottle, i some how deflected the bottle & he got it in his face cutting his lip quite badly.
i was defending myself one punch & deflection of the bottle but its very serious & alot of lies have been told by there freinds!
if found guilty what is my sentence likely to be?
i returned from afghanistan earlyer this yr & im due back in october. i have previouse for taking a car & theift over a decade ago when i was young & stupid!
i have a six yr military record that is exemplery "sorry if miss spelt"
i have a second job that i pay alot of tax on on my time off, basicly im trying to show that im a hard working normal person.
if iv thought about this once i have a million times & i cant see that i could of done anything different!?
i wasnt to know that i would cause these injurys but if the shoe was on the other foot would they have stopped!?
thank you for any replys.

[Buenchico]

Section 18 offences carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The sentences that judges have to pass (other than in genuinely exceptional circumstances) are given in this document:
http://www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/a ssault-against-the%20person.pdf

The sentences shown in the table on page 13 apply to first-time offenders, facing a single charge, convicted after a trial. An early guilty plea will see the sentence pulled downwards, as will the element of provocation. However, if you're facing more than one charge (which isn't clear from your post), that will push the sentence upwards.

Without hearing the prosecution's side of things it's hard to be precise but I'd hazard a guess at a sentence in between 2� and 3� years imprisonment.

Chris

[commandopaul]

thank you for your reply .
it is two charges of sec 18, as iv said i did nothing to warrent these attacs & i was acting in self defence so in my mind the thought of pleading guilty to thses charges seems out of the question!
i understand that if found guilty my sentence will be more lengthyer but any sentence would mean the loss of my to be wife & my career.
i guess its a gamble in some respects but im hoping that my honesty as a person will be seen by the jury!?