Man Accused of Assaulting Child – Prosecution Drop Case

Case study summary

Our client had been accused of assaulting his stepchild and causing grievous bodily harm to his former partner. We initially persuaded the prosecution to reduce the charges before they agreed to drop the case altogether on the first day of trial.

Case study

Our client was a professional working man with no previous convictions. He had been charged with serious allegations of assault which could have led to a prison sentence. Our client was very concerned about the impact this case might have, so he contacted our specialist criminal defence lawyers.

Our client had an argument with his partner and ended the relationship. In response, she had accused him of pushing her up against a wall and strangling her before kicking and repeatedly punching her three-year-old son. The client explained that this simply was not true. His now ex-partner was concerned about him having custody of their recently born baby and this was motivating her to make these false accusations. She was the only witness to these alleged assaults.

We initially persuaded the Crown that there charges were too high. They agreed to drop the allegation of assaulting the partner and reduced the charge in relation to the child from grievous bodily harm (really serious harm), to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

His case was listed for trial twice but, on both occasions, the former partner did not attend court and told the court that she was unwell. The Crown Prosecution Service and the court are usually very reluctant to drop a case because a witness does not attend and would normally just apply to adjourn the trial and make arrangements for the witness to be brought to court. However, we were able to gently encourage the prosecution that in all of the circumstances, it was wrong for this case to still go ahead. The prosecution accepted this and agreed to drop the case on the morning of trial.

Our client was highly relieved that the case had been dropped without the risk of trial.