wrongly arrested for Actual Bodily Harm and Criminal Damage on the 9th sept 2011. appeal?

[tonycee]

I know this is a consumer site, but i need a bit of advice. Brief as poss situation.

 

I was wrongly arrested for Actual Bodily Harm and Criminal Damage on the 9th sept 2011.

 

The charges were dropped on Tuesday 22nd May 2012 the day before my 3rd court appearance.

 

I had to appear as instructed by my sols, so we could go for a costs order.

 

To my horror the court would not entertain my loss of earnings, £652.50p. Only reasonable expenses. Fuel, car park etc,

 

Now i consider my loss of earnings to be reasonable, dont you. So this is what i am thinking.

 

Should i take the other geezer to County Court for my toot, and do you think i should go for compensation for 9 months duress and the likes. Or do you think i would be pushing my luck.

 

I will have no hesitation in going to court if i think it is worth it.

 

Any advice/opinions.

 

Thanx.

[assisted blonde]

Why were the charges dropped?

[Crapstone]

I'm in a similar situation after my OH was accused of ABH when he acted in self defence after I was assaulted and had damage done to my car and property stolen.

 

He was found not guilty and said to have acted as he should have done but leaving us with a loss of earnings plus the damages and the items stolen. The police involved said that they couldn't act against the people that attacked me until the court case had been dealt with for my OH. Great stuff, apart from that they have time limits for taking action and the court case took 9 months! So we are left out of pocket by around £2000 in total and all he got was a pathetic £35 for travel and subsitance.

 

The police have been contacted several times over the months and they have ignored it completely.

 

As I've found, you are not the guilty until proven innocent, you are the guilty but they just don't have enough evidence to convict.

 

I'm thinking the same as you and suing the people involved. Our solicitor was as much use as a chocolate tea-pot after the event and advised against it. But why should I suffer when I can prove damages and the court has said that the action was appropriate and we'd been attacked?

 

I'm glad, but not glad if you get what I mean, that someone else is just as p'd off that they have to suffer from being accused and dragged through court without getting their losses back when they are innocent.

[Crapstone]

It's not just the costs of appearing in court either. I don't think anyone can understand until it happens to them. Time in a cell, bail conditions and answering to bail as well as numerous court hearings and for nothing. It's so very easy to destroy a person, and their life, by making a false accusation and anyone can do it.

 

The person on the receiving end gets hauled in, stripped of their dignity and shoelaces! Despite not being guilty of a crime you don't get anything for that. You are expected to absorb the cost or possibly lose your job? I think we want and need safer streets but fair is fair and while prisoners that are paid obscene amounts of money under the HRA, have legal aid and all pleasures given to them then I think it is only fair that anyone not convicted of a crime should be fully paid all their expenses including loss of earnings from the time of their arrest.

 

Sorry to waffle and I have no solution to this Tony. If I get my way I will hound them through the courts, without doubt for at least the losses caused.

Edited May 27, 2012 by Crapstone

[rebel11]

Thread has been moved to the correct forum.

[tonycee]

Thread has been moved to the correct forum.

 

That helps. Give us a clue then.

[blondie 27]

It means its been moved to the right forum so people with that experience or similar situations might be able to help

[**Tilly**]

That helps. Give us a clue then.

 

It means its been moved to the right forum so people with that experience or similar situations might be able to help

 

Think Tony meant which forum ...tis in the Legal forums Tony:-)

[Ganymede]

I know this is a consumer site, but i need a bit of advice. Brief as poss situation.

 

I was wrongly arrested for Actual Bodily Harm and Criminal Damage on the 9th sept 2011.

 

The charges were dropped on Tuesday 22nd May 2012 the day before my 3rd court appearance.

 

I had to appear as instructed by my sols, so we could go for a costs order.

 

To my horror the court would not entertain my loss of earnings, £652.50p. Only reasonable expenses. Fuel, car park etc,

 

Now i consider my loss of earnings to be reasonable, dont you. So this is what i am thinking.

 

Should i take the other geezer to County Court for my toot, and do you think i should go for compensation for 9 months duress and the likes. Or do you think i would be pushing my luck.

 

I will have no hesitation in going to court if i think it is worth it.

 

Any advice/opinions.

 

Thanx.

 

 

Who do you want to sue the guy that accused you of ABH?

 

The Police/CPS must have thought they had sufficient evidence against you. Can you give any further background info?

[tonycee]

Who do you want to sue the guy that accused you of ABH?

 

The Police/CPS must have thought they had sufficient evidence against you. Can you give any further background info?

 

 

I dont care who pays. I want my money back.

 

The "sufficient evidence" was/is based on the statement of a third party. When the crunch came, he couldnt go through with it.

[assisted blonde]

The decision to prosecute you would not have been the victims but the CPS, the CPS will only prosecute where the case has a reasonable chance of success or is in the Public interest. I asked why the case had been dropped was it that there was found to be no case to answer or was it due to insufficient evidence?

Are you employed or self employed, as you say you had lost income I am assuming you are self employed as if you were an employee i would have thought you could have taken annual leave to cover for the days you have been to Court.

I dont really see who you would be able to chase for your loss of income, as the victim wasnt at fault, the police pass the details to the CPs and the CPS decide if there is a case.

Just dropping the case is not really the same as being found not guilty, not guilty says you didnt do it (in the eyes of the law) droppiong the case could mean that although they think you are guilty there is just not enough evidence.

[duckwaddler]

The only advice I can give you here TonyCee, is - if you did take the guy to a county court and the evidence suggests that he was willing to go ahead with the case, and it was dropped though no fault of his, you will more likely lose and therefore you will be left to pay all of the court costs.

 

Also, remember - he would stand a very good chance of winning because the evidence in country courts is "not beyond reasonable doubt" as it is in a criminal court. All he would have to prove is that he didn't drop the charges.

 

Also - let's just say you did win, he not only doesn't have to even turn up for the hearing - but he also doesn't even have to pay anything that may be awarded to you, he could just stick to fingers up to it, and by the sound of it, he probably would.

 

I'd say do your research first, and get some sound legal advice as to the ins and outs of the facts as to whether or not he could be held responsible for the case being dropped, and make sure the advice is from someone who knows the law on county court proceedings, as they are very different to criminal courts.

 

Good luck!

[Crapstone]

I dont really see who you would be able to chase for your loss of income, as the victim wasnt at fault, the police pass the details to the CPs and the CPS decide if there is a case.

Just dropping the case is not really the same as being found not guilty, not guilty says you didnt do it (in the eyes of the law) droppiong the case could mean that although they think you are guilty there is just not enough evidence.

 

Who is the victim? The CPS are hopeless and that shouldn't mean that a person is left out of pocket for something that hasn't progressed. Taking annual leave is still a loss as you don't want to spend quality time in a court!

 

I agree that if the CPS dropped the case then little can be done but I don't think they could just "stick their fingers up", if you won in a county court. They get a CCJ and you pursue it until they do pay.

[Ganymede]

Who is the victim? The CPS are hopeless and that shouldn't mean that a person is left out of pocket for something that hasn't progressed. Taking annual leave is still a loss as you don't want to spend quality time in a court!

 

I agree that if the CPS dropped the case then little can be done but I don't think they could just "stick their fingers up", if you won in a county court. They get a CCJ and you pursue it until they do pay.

 

 

 

I'm with assistedblone on this one.

 

I would not encourage the OP to spend a lot of time and money on a County Court claim that has no merit.

[tonycee]

Thanks for the input.

 

I cant see how my claim has no merits.

 

I was wrongly arrested on the word of a third party. I pleaded not guilty right from day one. The whole process could have been avoided.

 

Im out of pocket. Somebody has to pay. Im self employed btw but on a fixed day rate.

 

I have experience with County Courts. I will proceed with this. I just wondered if anybody had any legitimate reason, other than conjecture, as to why i shouldnt.

 

Pursuing a CCJ will be easy and push the total claimed over the bankruptcy threshold.

 

Thanks again.

[Ganymede]

Thanks for the input.

 

I cant see how my claim has no merits.

 

I was wrongly arrested on the word of a third party. I pleaded not guilty right from day one. The whole process could have been avoided.

 

Im out of pocket. Somebody has to pay. Im self employed btw but on a fixed day rate.

 

I have experience with County Courts. I will proceed with this. I just wondered if anybody had any legitimate reason, other than conjecture, as to why i shouldnt.

 

Pursuing a CCJ will be easy and push the total claimed over the bankruptcy threshold.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

If you intend to make a claim regardless of the advice then go for it.

 

After all it is only a small claim so your costs risk is minimal.

[tonycee]

If you intend to make a claim regardless of the advice then go for it.

 

After all it is only a small claim so your costs risk is minimal.

 

Its not that im not listening. I hear the advice, I dont hear anybody yet, giving me a valid reason not to proceed. Thats what im after.

 

Or you could potentially waste more money on legal advice. You would need to prove that either the victim or the witness had acted out of malice

 

I thought i had heard it all, but this takes some beating. Whatever happened to innocent untill proven guilty. On WHAT grounds would i have to prove anything, The facts that i am innocent are all that i have to prove.

[assisted blonde]

If you were arrested on the word of a third party, then there must have been some merit in what they said or you wouldnt have been arrested,the Police do not normally arrested people on just someone elses say so, they must have had reasonable grounds to suspect you, and once they had arrested you once questioned they must have still felt that there was a case or they wouldnt have passed it to the CPs there must have been other evidence to connect you with the crime. if the other party had acted out of spite or it was a malicious accusation then i would have expect them to have been charged with wasting Police time, or a similar offence.

On what grounds exactly was the case dropped? was it lack of evidence, or was it found that there was no case to answer?

If the person who made a statement to the Police believed it was correct at the time, and there was no malice then I cannot see ant court in the land awarding you costs against them, to do so would discourage people from making statements as they would be concerned that should the case be dismissed or the defendent found not guilty they would then be pursued for costs.

As for innocent until proven guilty so are the other parties, the victim of the assult and the person who made a statement, you would still have to show that they were acting maliciously in naming you (not just a mistake on their part that they thought you were responsible).

I would also suggest that where you mentioned that pursuing a CCJ would be easy and push them over the bankruptcy threashold you yourself are starting to sound slightly malicious, if this came over in Court I dont think you would have a snowballs chance in hell of suceeding. However i could be wrong, i can find no legal argument to say you cant try this action but then neither can i find a legal argument to show it would suceed either.

Are the victim and person who made the statment to the Police known to you, as this is sounding a bit like there could be history between you all.?

[tonycee]

Thanks for your input.

 

If any one has any factual matters to add, feel free to comment.

[Ganymede]

Thanks for your input.

 

If any one has any factual matters to add, feel free to comment.

 

What "factual matters" are you looking for?

[tonycee]

Its natural for people to form an opinion. I am begining to feel that i am on trial here.

 

I wont reveal anymore details than necessary.

 

I was charged with an offence i did not commit. I am out of pocket and looking to redress the balance.

 

Does ANYBODY know of a legal reason why i should not sue the alleged victim?

[assisted blonde]

Practice Direction costs in criminal procedings, the defendent may claim reasonable costs for Mileage/parking etc but it specifically states that loss of earning cannot be claimed,

This is regardless of why the case was stopped/discontinued/thrown out.

[tonycee]

Practice Direction costs in criminal procedings, the defendent may claim reasonable costs for Mileage/parking etc but it specifically states that loss of earning cannot be claimed,

This is regardless of why the case was stopped/discontinued/thrown out.

 

Thank you. A link to this please.

[assisted blonde]

sorry no idea how to post links but just go into search engine and put practice directions costs in criminal case in and you should get somthing up,

[tonycee]

sorry no idea how to post links but just go into search engine and put practice directions costs in criminal case in and you should get somthing up,

 

Click on the web page at the top. It should highlight blue. Right click, copy, then paste it where you want it to go.

 

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/criminal/docs/crim-pr-2011-part76-costs.doc