Managing Director Accused of Assault Avoids Conviction

Case study summary

Our client was the director of a chemical factory. The complainant flew a drone over the top of the factory and our client approached him and knocked the drone's controller out of his hand, causing damage. We persuaded the police to resolve the matter through a caution.

Case study

Our client was the managing director of a chemical factory. In April 2024, he observed a member of the public who was stood outside the gates of the factory and was flying a drone over the top of the factory. Our client was accused of assaulting this individual by knocking the drone's controller out of his hand which also caused damage to the controller. There was video footage of the incident.

We were contacted by our client who asked us to represent him at his upcoming voluntary interview. At the police station, he accepted that he approached the complainant, told him to move away and hit the drone controller our of his hand. Our client explained that, at the time of the incident, he had feared for his safety as well as that of his employees when he saw the drone flying over the factory due to the dangerous chemicals which were stored there. He also said that the complainant was dressed all in black so he was suspicious of his intentions.

One of our expert defence lawyers reviewed the video footage and discussed the case with the police. The main concerns for our client were that he wanted to resolve the matter as soon as possible and avoid going to court. He was a man of good character which meant that he had no previous criminal cautions or convictions. In light of this, we were able to persuade the police to resolve the matter through an out-of-court disposal by way of a caution with a condition that our client wrote an apology letter to the complainant. Our client was happy to comply with this condition and the matter was resolved within one week.