No Further Action for Young Woman Arrested for S.20 GBH

Case study summary

Our client was a young woman arrested for attacking her partner with a bat and knife. She called our specialist assault solicitors at the police station to handle the situation and it became clear she was the victim of domestic violence. Outcome: No Further Action.

Case study

Our client was a young woman arrested for Grievous Bodily Harm without intent, contrary to Section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Her partner accused her of attacking him with a baseball bat and then kitchen knife after he tried to break up with her. He further accused her of pouring boiling water over his leg in an attempt to stop him from leaving the house and relationship.

Our client had no previous convictions and was training to work in the health sector. She had moved from London to Manchester to start her training. She was distraught about being arrested and spending the night in the police station and had no support around her.

Our specialist assault solicitors attended the police station with her and took a detailed account about her relationship with the complainant and the previous incident. It quickly became clear that she was the victim of domestic violence and had reached breaking point when he tried to end their relationship. A particularly sensitive approach was taken with our client and she was grateful for this.

Given the evidence against her, she exercised her right to silence but our solicitors explained the situation to the police including the difficulties she faced with having no support around her and having left her family in London.

The police decided to take No Further Action against our client and assisted in getting her the support she needed. As a result, our client can continue her training to work in her chosen sector.