Finally, I get my day in court!

dl8860 · 29 Jan 2020 at 11:39

So to get this clear, they've been able to show from the cctv that the majority of the bodily harm was caused by one of the guys who couldn't be ID'd? So he's definitely a good candidate for GBH, but the guy they did ID only did enough (on tape) such that they could get away with affray?

If they all arrived and disappeared together as you said, and are then obviously all known to one another, it's ridiculous that the ID'd guys are allowed to keep schtum about the **** who did the most of it and get a reduced charge based on a plea.

bloodiedathame · 29 Jan 2020 at 11:40

Get onto the papers and set up a GoFundMe.

glenimp617 · 29 Jan 2020 at 11:43

I can't believe what I'm reading. That's absolutely shocking!

CaptainRAVE · 29 Jan 2020 at 11:43

bloodiedathame said:
Get onto the papers and set up a GoFundMe.

This.

If people can get thousands for Christmas presents, I don't see why this wouldn't work for you.

llamadal · 29 Jan 2020 at 11:59

Disgusted by this, so many similar cases as well. We need to be significantly tougher on crime/scum like that.

Yas786 · 29 Jan 2020 at 12:06

Shocking to hear that Vidar, absolutely disgusting and as many have said our justice system is so fatally flawed.

My commiserations to you mate, I hope they manage to find the guy and nail him to the wall.

MOOGLEYS · 29 Jan 2020 at 12:09

Crap outcome gutted for you hopefully at some point these scum can be identified and the police can do something.

Hades · 29 Jan 2020 at 12:20

Disgusting. But sadly not surprising.

Any chance of a no win no fee private prosecution against the two?

Vidar · 29 Jan 2020 at 12:51

Yeah it was all done and dusted before they came to talk to me about it, that's what really stung though I suspect as others have said that's just how these things are done. The frustrating thing is though the pictures have already been in the press and there was zero response which is why I'm looking myself.

As for going to the papers and setting up a GoFundMe, while I'd certainly welcome some extra money (I'd love to go back to a villa in Paphos for a few weeks as I really could use a proper holiday after all of this) I don't need it and don't ever want to be relying on the kindness of strangers ever again.

Orionaut · 29 Jan 2020 at 12:57

dl8860 said:
If they all arrived and disappeared together as you said, and are then obviously all known to one another, it's ridiculous that the ID'd guys are allowed to keep schtum about the **** who did the most of it and get a reduced charge based on a plea.

To my mind, anybody who does something like this and doesn't give up the other parties should be given an IPP with parole only being considered once he comes clean!

Mcnumpty2323 · 29 Jan 2020 at 12:57

Set up a go fund me
To hire a private detective to find him?
Given you know some of the names involved should be able to
Find him as would have more time to look than police who have a load of other cases
And if strangers give you kindness
It doesn't mean you are relying
On them
Just means they want to help you

Burnsy2023 · 29 Jan 2020 at 13:19

Quartz said:
I disagree: It's about statistics. The prosecutor gets another successful prosecution, the defender gets another successful 'knocked down', the courts get another case done quickly. Win-win all round. Apart from @Vidar.

So are you saying that the CPS funding situation hasn't been a large contributing factor to this outcome?

Burnsy2023 · 29 Jan 2020 at 13:21

Hades said:
Any chance of a no win no fee private prosecution against the two?

That doesn't exist. Private prosecutions are always expensive.

It's also not possible because the incident has already been dealt with.

jsmoke · 29 Jan 2020 at 13:22

matt100 said:
I know it's painful and I'm sure it doesn't feel at all like justice, they may not care/be the sorts of people who've had this happen before but having a criminal record isn't nothing.. it could very easily affect jobs/credit/life more generally..

It's one of the most insidious things that can happen to people wrongly convicted.. again the irony here is likely that they may already have records in which case it's another notch on the bed post.. otherwise it could be very disruptive.

If the people I found are correct, they are self employed. Well one of them just recently moved to another job but always got self employed option to move back to I assume.

I'd say it's possible to find the guy in that photo but you'd need to find someone on FB they know, message that person and ask for a name which your unlikely to get.

Then the longer it's left the harder it may to be convict. I think the photo is clear enough that there are no discrepancies as to who it is. I don't know how legal cases go with slightly grainy CCTV images. Can the accused just claim that's not them, that would seem far fetched?

Hades · 29 Jan 2020 at 13:25

Burnsy2023 said:
That doesn't exist. Private prosecutions are always expensive.

It's also not possible because the incident has already been dealt with.

I mean for compensation. The current trial doesn't prevent a private case being brought for damages. However it might be difficult to recover any money that is won so it's probably difficult to get a no win no fee company involved.

Quartz · 29 Jan 2020 at 13:30

Burnsy2023 said:
So are you saying that the CPS funding situation hasn't been a large contributing factor to this outcome?

Absolutely. Different people have different priorities.

TJM · 29 Jan 2020 at 14:18

Quartz said:
I disagree: It's about statistics. The prosecutor gets another successful prosecution, the defender gets another successful 'knocked down', the courts get another case done quickly. Win-win all round. Apart from @Vidar.

Last minute guilty pleas (referred to as cracked trials) aren't actually considered to be a good thing in the numbers game as a lot of time and effort would have been put into preparing for the trial, but statistics don't drive the decisions of individual prosecutors or defence teams. They aren't relevant to how they are paid or assessed.

Hades said:
I mean for compensation. The current trial doesn't prevent a private case being brought for damages. However it might be difficult to recover any money that is won so it's probably difficult to get a no win no fee company involved.

A civil claim for personal injury is normally a formality if the defendant has been convicted in the criminal courts. The agreed basis of plea ('I accept that I did X, Y and Z') in this case, however, may not include causing injury to the OP. He'd need legal advice and, as you say, consider whether he could get any money out of them. Scrotes generally lack assets.

Burnsy2023 · 29 Jan 2020 at 14:41

Quartz said:
Absolutely. Different people have different priorities.

It may be different in Scotland, but I think you'd find out a lot if you saw what the CPS had to deal with vs the resources they have in England and Wales. Do you know much about how it works?

adam cool dude · 29 Jan 2020 at 14:56

A guy who robbed a pub and local petrol station two months ago armed with a meat cleaver just got a two years suspended prison sentence and 150 hours community service. This is just another showing of how bad the justice system is in our country.

Half the staff of said pub are too frightened to be left alone and now they find out he walks free.

Jasoncmor · 29 Jan 2020 at 15:35

I'm gutted for you and don't understand what you're going through, to be attached like that and then the culprits get off Scot free.

Had you owed a few quid to the establishment, they'd throw every resource they had, and the book at you, but when you need them for things that actually matter, it's just another statistic and they don't give a toss.