Law

[xxchel089xx]

hiya my boyfriend got arrested today hes got 8 assault chargers and 2 criminal charges aswell how long is he likeley to get

on of the assaults is on me but i dont want to go to court can i retrack my statement if so what will happen?

[SeaJayPea]

Well it's up to you of course, but I'd strongly advise you to keep your statement. The CPS will be doing the prosecuting and they're used to people withdrawing like this. These days, they're likely to continue.

And quite right too. He sounds like a right piece of work.

[boxtops]

The police tend not to take notice of people who retract assault statements - they often believe that they are backtracking under duress.

If he did it, why do you want retract your statement?

[Buenchico]

We need far more information.

If your boyfriend simply shoved a few people around during a scuffle, resulting in 8 very low-level 'common assault' charges, he'd probably just get a community sentence. Whereas a single offence of 'GBH with intent', at the very top of the scale, could result in life imprisonment. So we need to know far more information about what happened and, in particular, the exact charges that he's facing. (Common assault? ABH? GBH? GBH with intent?). Further, if any of his victims were police officers, children or 'vulnerable' adults, or if his offences were racially aggravated, the court will take a far more serious view of things.

You've also not what told us what the 'criminal' charges you refer to are (although, of course, assault charges are also 'criminal' anyway). Breaking someone's glasses is far less serious than knocking their house down with a JCB. Nicking a Mars bar is far less serious than defrauding someone out of millions of pounds. So what is he actually charged with?

If you seek to withdraw a statement in a 'domestic violence' case, it's the policy of the CPS to use that statement in court anyway, possibly resulting in you being required to give evidence in court to explain why you've changed your account of things. You also risk being charged with either:
a) wasting police time (if the police believe that your original statement was a lie) ; or
b) attempting to pervert the course of justice (if they believe that your original statement was true). If you were convicted of that offence you'd almost certainly be sent to prison.(There have been several high-profile cases where rape victims have been sent to prison for refusing to testify against offenders, so seeking to withdraw a statement is always to be regarded as extremely risky).

[xxchel089xx]

he smashed a window and smashed up a peddle bike thats the criminal chargers hes facing an i think the assult chargers are 2 abh and 2 common assault chargers how long is he likely to get ? oh yes i forgot to mention hes got a street theft charge aswell

[SeaJayPea]

chel does he have any previous convictions?

[xxchel089xx]

yes hes got previous theft convictions n an abh conviction

[Buenchico]

My guess is that the case will be transferred to the Crown Court because the magistrates won't think that their sentencing powers would be sufficient. (Common assault is normally only dealt with by a Magistrates' Court but can be brought before a Crown Court if there are other 'higher' charges, such as 'ABH', as well).

The Crown Court would have to consider the levels of both 'harm' and 'culpability' in respect of each charge. We've not got that information, so anything we suggest is likely to involve quite a bit of guesswork but he's probably looking at a total sentence of between 10 and 18 months, meaning that he'll be 'inside' for between 5 and 9 months.