When an assault occurs in a public place, police will often lay a charge of affray instead of assault. This is significant, because the maximum penalty for affray is 10 years imprisonment, compared to 2 years for common assault.
However, even though you might be guilty of affray, it is important to speak with an experienced criminal lawyer to understand your options.
Recently, police charged our client with affray following a fight in a nightclub. The incident was captured on CCTV footage, and the case against our client was strong.
However, Zoe spoke with our client in detail to obtain his instructions. She then closely analysed the CCTV footage. This allowed her to write representations to police, outlining a number of reasons why police should withdraw the more serious charge and replace it with common assault.
Police agreed to withdraw the affray charge. Instead, they proceeded with a common assault charge only.
No Conviction for Common Assault
As a result of committing the assault, our client was in breach of 2 conditional release orders. This meant the court would need to deal with these two previous charges, in addition to sentencing him for the new offence. As a result, our client was facing a conviction for all 3 charges.
Zoe worked closely with our client to prepare persuasive subjective material for our client’s sentence. This included character references, a letter of remorse and medical documents.
At Court, Zoe was able to convince the magistrate to not take any action on the two bonds. In addition, the magistrate agreed to not record a criminal conviction for the common assault.
Instead, our client received a conditional release order, with a condition that he be of good behaviour for 12 months.
We Can Help
If you are required to attend court in Newcastle for assault, it is important to have an experienced criminal lawyer by your side.
Call us today on 0421 700 497 to arrange a FREE initial consultation.
