Case Dropped against Client accused of Common Assault

Case study summary

Our client had been accused of assaulting his ex-partner after an argument broke out regarding their son. It was clear that the complainant's account was not entirely consistent with what had actually happened and our specialist lawyer ensured that the case went no further.

Case study

The allegation related to an incident at a Trampoline Park in January 2023. It was alleged by his ex-partner and her son that our client had pushed them during an argument surrounding their young son. At the time of interview, the complainant had produced a statement but there was no CCTV footage of the incident, nor were there any statements from staff members at the trampoline park.

Our specialist lawyer attending the police station to represent the client following his arrest and discussed the case with him prior to the interview. He explained that he had travelled to the Trampoline Park with his sister's children to take them on a day out and had informed the complainant of this the day before and she had asked him to take their son, something which our client initially refused as he did not want an argument breaking out between the two families who did not get along particularly well.

When he arrived at the park the next day, the complainant was already there with their son and her other son. When she wanted to leave the park, our client’s son wanted to stay with him and this resulted in an argument between the two of them.

The complainant had attempted to record our client on her mobile phone and had come extremely close to his face while he was holding his son in his arms. This had caused our client to fear for his son's safety and so he had attempted to grab the phone from her. When he attempted this, the complainant's other son pushed him and our client pushed him away in self-defence.

Our client ultimately denied committing the offences and owing to his instructions, our specialist lawyer advised that a prepared statement be drafted on his behalf, setting out his account and his denial of the offences. This would ensure that, should this advance to court, any adverse inferences were avoided and his defence was established at the earliest stage.

The prepared statement was read at the beginning of the interview and went into great detail about the occasion and the previous day. This was more detail than the complainant had provided and led the police to drop the case immediately after the interview had concluded.