i,m thinking of not turning up for court as a witness, what could happen to me if i do this.?

Answer 1

Have you discussed your reasons for not attending with anyone from the Police or Crown Prosecution Service? Someone from your local Witness Care Unit should have been in touch with you to explain what the procedure for a witness called to give evidence in court is. The Witness Care Units are jointly staffed by the CPS and the Police however, they are new in concept so some tend to be better than others at the moment. I suggest you call your local Police on their central switchboard number and ask to be connected to the Witness Care Unit. The staff in these departments are really dedicated and they can talk through the whole ordeal of giving evidence with you. If you are genuinely scared to give evidence because of repercussions there are things that can be done to support. For instance, if you meet the criteria, the CPS could apply for Special Measures for you. This means you could have a screen put around the stand so that the defendant can't see you whilst you give evidence or else you could have a video link approved so that you don't have to appear in Court.

At the end of the day your contribution is vital. More often than not a witness failing to attend Court to give evidence is enough of a reason for the Defence to argue that the case cannot be proved on the testimonies alone of the witnesses who did turn up. The Magistrates usually side with them on this point and the case will be thrown out meaning that justice has been thwarted and the defendant gets off scott free. It is your civic duty to attend and give evidence. Remember that if you don't there is a victim out there who gets no sense of justice because you didn't want to play your part. How would you feel if that victim was you, your mother/father, your son/daughter, etc...?

If you don't turn up to Court the Magistrates/Judge depending on where the trial is being heard, will probably issue a Warrant for Your Arrest whereby when the Police arrest you, they will take you to Court and you will have to explain your reasons for failing to turn up. You could then be found in Contempt of Court and given a fine. In extreme cases you may be given a Custodial Sentence. You will then be made to take the stand and the prosecuting and defending solicitors will treat you as a hostile witnesses which means the line of questioning will be more aggressive and uncomfortable for you than if you had attended court voluntarily. (This is assuming that a Summons has previously been served on you and you have ignored the order to attend Court).

So if you have genuine concerns about giving evidence the best thing to do is to call the Witness Care Unit within your local Police. You have nothing to lose if you do this and if you can't afford the phone call they will call you back.

Good luck, be brave and stay strong! The system can't do it without you!

Answer 2

If you are 'warned' for court by the CPS, it isn't a case of would you like a day trip to court madam?...your choice.

You have given a witness statement in respect of an incident and as such it has been deemed important enough for you to come to court and give live evidence.

The letter telling you the date time and place of the court hearing has the name of your witness care officer at the bottom. If you have a genuine and valid reason for not attending court, they will send up a problem to CPS and they will look at your statement and approach the defence to perhaps get it read.

If its that you just can't be bothered...well...expect a knock on the door and a summons being served.

If you then choose not to go to court after a summons, you will be liable to arrest for contempt of court, and could spend anything from a few hours to how ever long a judge feels you need in custody to educate you on your responsibilities within law.

I have summonsed many a reluctant witness and in the last 6 months alone had 4 witnesses locked up for contempt. 3 for a total of 8 weeks each just before christmas and 1 a few weeks ago who got a night in Newhall Prison, Wakefield...(I might add all 4 were female!)

If you have a problem with attending, speak to the witness care officer, if you fail to make any contact with them, they will go for a summons!

Answer 3

I dont know about contempt at cout thats an americanism, as is subpeona.

However there are a couple of things that you should know.

If you are just warned to be a witness and fail to turn up, the court case could just be dropped if your evidence is important to proving the case.

Or the court could adjourn the case and issue a summons to you.
once you have recieved the summons, if you fail to appear at court, a bench warrant can be issued, and you may be arrested, brought to court to give evidence, and then prosecuted yourself for failing to comply with the summons.

The summons comes first in the post, thena phone cal lto confirm.
If you dont aknowledge a police officer will keep coming to your house to serve it until they find you.

In general its just easier to go to court

Answer 4

If you have recieved a summons from the court to attend as a witness, and you do not attend, then you are in contempt of court and could be jailed or given a heavy fine.

Answer 5

You would be held in contemp of court and would end up with a criminal record. If you are being intimidated you should contact the police etc.

If you have been served to appear as a witness you must appear at court. Sometimes you end up not even having to go and give eviedence

Answer 6

There will be a bench warrant issued for your arrest. In some cases, witnesses are placed in protective custody in jail so they have to show up for court. It depends on whether or not you are a material witness. My suggestion, go to court.

Answer 7

If your court ordered to be in court you better go, or the judge will throw you in jail. If your a witness to something you should go. If you havent been ordered to go then dont go, but what goes around comes around one day youre need a witness.

Answer 8

If you are in UK and have been subpoenaed to crown court they can issue a warrant for your arrest if it is magistrates court they can issue a witness summons which is a summons served with conduct money ie your bus fare if you don't go then you will be arrested on warrant,its a lot easier to go.

Answer 9

Are you typing this from prison???

At the most awkward moment, some deputies will snap handcuffs on you, and lead you away.

I'm not sure if its before or after you get found in Contempt of Court.

Let us know.

Answer 10

If you are under a subpoena, you are legally obligated to appear. If you do not, you could be charged with obstruction of justice and contempt of court. Either charge can get you jail time and perhaps a healthy fine.