Student Guilty of Assault - No Criminal Punishment
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Date posted: 07 Dec 2022
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Case study summary
Our client was a 12-year-old boy who was accused of assaulting another student. He admitted the assault. We persuaded the police to resolve the matter through community resolution despite their original view being that our client's actions warranted a criminal punishment.
Case study
Our client was a 12-year-old boy who was accused of assault. The police said that he had kicked another student whilst he was on the floor. When the complainant stood up, our client was then accused of punching him multiple times and chasing after him as he tried ran away. There was CCTV of the incident and, while you could not see the suspects face, a group of students were shouting our client's name and cheering for him. The complainant suffered bruising to his arm.
Our client admitted the allegation. He explained that he had been told that the complainant had sexually assaulted multiple girls at his school. He tried to ask the complainant about this, but the complainant told him to leave it and pushed him away. Our client responded by pushing the complainant back which resulted in him falling to the floor. He then proceeded to kick and punch the complainant.
The police officer was of the view that our client would either have to admit the allegation and accept a caution or the matter would be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service who would decide whether our client should be charged with a criminal offence. Both options meant that the client would potentially receive a criminal record.
We argued that this would not be a suitable outcome. Our client was 12 years old. He had tried to take matters into his own hands, but he was remorseful for his actions. We persuaded the police to resolve the matter through community resolution with conditions that required our client to apologise to the complainant and engage with the youth offenders service so that the risk of any further offending could be reduced.
Our client and his parents were relieved that we had achieved an outcome which avoided a criminal punishment.
Jamie Dickson
Associate Solicitor
Jamie is an associate solicitor who represents clients at the police station and assists with case preparation in the Magistrates’ and Crown Court. She works across criminal defence, fraud, and sexual offences, with cases ranging from harassment to murder. Clients describe Jamie as professional and caring.
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