CPS Drop Case Against Client Charged with Assault

Case study summary

Our client was charged with assaulting his partner and son. There was no evidence to support the allegation and our client explained that he was in fact the one who had been assaulted. We demanded that the CPS reviewed the case and they decided to drop all of the charges.

Case study

Our client was accused of assaulting his partner and son. It was the prosecution's case that he had head butted and strangled his partner whilst intoxicated. The alleged assault occurred in front of his two young children and when his son attempted to intervene, our client was accused of elbowing him out of the way. Our client had two convictions for previously assaulting his partner and a prison sentence was a real possibility.

During an initial conference, our client explained that he had paid for him and his family to stay overnight at a hotel because it was his daughter's birthday. When they arrived at the hotel after a day at the theme park, our client and his partner began drinking alcohol. He fell asleep in the hotel room and awoke to find that his partner and their son were not there. He went to find them and an argument began. When they returned to the hotel room, the argument continued and his partner began to scream at him. He turned around to tell her to be quiet and they clashed heads. She then assaulted him by hitting and scratching him. Our client denies strangling his partner and stated that he simply tried to push her out of the hotel room in order to defend himself. He admits that his son did intervene, and he may have accidentally elbowed him in the scuffle, but he did not intend to harm him. Our client was the only party who received injuries as a result of the incident.

We analysed the evidence and realised that the complainant had not provided a witness statement. She was no longer supporting the prosecution and had been attempting to contact our client despite him being subject to bail conditions which prevented him from contacting her. This supported our client's instructions.

We told the prosecution to review the case because there was simply not enough evidence and our client should not have been charged in the first place. The prosecution agreed and decided to offer no evidence against him. Our client was relieved and looked forward to rebuilding the relationship with his partner and son.