Summary
Our client is a young professional who attended a birthday event at a bar. After being treated with hostility and cruelty by other attendees, our client threw her drink and glass in the complainant’s face in a moment of distress. The complainant accused our client of assault, alleging that she had been glassed. From the initial contact with the police, they were adamant they were looking to charge against our client and proceed to court due to what was perceived as premediated assault with a weapon and that it was all captured on CCTV. However, the charge was later dropped at the investigation stage and our client exonerated due to expert legal representation from Lawtons Solicitors.
In Depth
The complainant and our client had previously been flat mates however, due to hostilities and strain within their relationship, the complainant had recently moved out. Ahead of the birthday event where both parties were knowingly in attendance, our client experienced distress and anxiety at the prospect of encountering her ex-flat mate because of their past animosity.
Throughout the evening, our client was receiving hostile looks from the complainant and felt generally unsettled about being in her presence. Our client made no attempt to communicate or interact with the complainant at any stage.
While speaking with friends, our client noticed that the ends of her hair and her clothing had become suddenly soiled with red wine. She realised, after confirmed by witnesses, that the complainant had deliberately poured wine over her which had coated her hair, neck, coat and trousers.
Our client felt degraded and humiliated by this act. In disbelief, our client approached the complainant calmly, not to assault her but to question if she had really done what she suspected. The complainant admitted to the act and in a moment of distress our client threw the remainder of her drink at her face. As she did so, the glass shattered in her hand due to how tightly she was gripping it, with fragments hitting the complainant. She then dropped the glass on the floor and left.
Following this, our client was interviewed under caution in respect of the assault where the complainant accused her of throwing the drink and the glass in her face. Managing Director Nick Titchener took the lead on this case and was instructed on a privately funded basis. He assisted our client in carefully drafting a prepared statement ahead of the police interview and also conducted a thorough background investigation. We emphasised that our client was of good character and had acted out of anxiety and distress and highlighted the earlier incident where our client had been assaulted and her clothing damaged immediately prior to when our client had approached the complainant.
Nick attended the police station with our client and supported her through the process. Although the police were previously adamant that they would be proceeding in charging and prosecuting our client, the strength of the prepared statement highlighted significant further enquiries that the police needed to pursue before any decisions could or should be made. It was clear that when these further lines of enquiry were undertaken, our client’s behavior could be viewed in context. Realising that our client could make a formal complaint against her and that she had been exposed as the initial aggressor the complainant withdrew her complaint against our client. The evidence looked at as a whole persuaded the officers to drop the charge against our client and no further action was taken.
Our client was extremely grateful to Nick for all his support and for securing her such an impressive outcome. As a professional with a huge amount at stake, the guidance and advice provided by our team at Lawtons meant that she was able to move on and leave this ordeal behind her.
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