can i insisit they take her to court?

Question

my bfs ex assualted me on sunday and left my face cut and bloodied and both arms badly bruised and scratched, the police took a statement and pics (however they did not take a witness statement of my bf). they rang later on to say as she had not been in trouble with the police before they elt her go with a caution. i thought that was it but i have had a couple of ppl tell me i can take it further and insist this goes to court. can i? this is all new to me and ive never had to deal with anything like it before? if theres any coppers (ex or opperating) or ppl with legal knowledge i would be greatfull to get some advice!

p.s - she rang after she was released and laughed down the phone..shes threatnign to do worse next time cos she thinks she will get away with it which is why im anxious to get her done this time.

Answer 1

You can sue her civilly for your injuries.
Get them photographed, and save any documentation of treatment that you received.
You should also get a restraining order that keeps her a certain number of feet away from your house and place of business.

Answer 2

If the suspect has not had any previous cautions or convictions and admits the offence then the police have no option other than administer a caution. This would not be the case in a more serious assault but the injuries you describe, although devastating for you, would not be classed as serious. She must have admitted the offence so you could seek redress through a Civil Court. If you wish to do this either you, or your solicitor, should contact your local forces Legal Department (HQ will put you through) and for a fee @£50 will provide the information you require.
Firstly you must consider the financial position of the offender as unlike the Americans there would probably not be a significant amount of compensation awarded and you would have to put a lot of time and effort into getting there.
The follow up phone call from the offender is witness intimidation. I would suggest that you inform the police of this phone call and she can be warned under the Protection from Harrassment Act. Record the details, time/date/what done or said etc., of this incident and any future incidents (literally record on phone if possible).
Hopefully the warning from the police will work as I think you should try and put it behind you and forget about the sad cow. Things like this have a danger of becoming an obsession and can take over ppls lives. Good luck.
ps. I dont know the full circs but if your b/f witnessed the assault could he not have intervened to prevent it? He can provide a statement for the civil court if required.

Answer 3

I'll be honest with you in that in my experience I've never had this situation where the victim disputes the penalty given to the offender so I wouldn't be able to advise on if you can object to the decision or not without checking up.

However, if the offender goes to court then she'll get no real penalty anyway as it appears that this is her first offence. The decision would have been made based on all the available evidence and taking into consideration her previous convictions (if any). She would also have to admit the offence to be eligible for a caution. I do however wonder why your boyfriend wasn't asked for a statement if he is a witness to the incident. He would surely be a key witness???

If she is now causing you problems by calling you and making threats then there's further offences there. Abuse of a public telecommunications network is one that could be deemed relevant but you've also got harassment amongst others so I would suggest that you report this.

If a caution has been issued, she has to 'keep her nose clean' for 5 years or this offence will be considered in making a decision on a penalty for her if she offends again.

The legal system is complicated and procedures for decision making do vary slightly within different Police forces so this decision may have been different in another part of the country.

Hope this helps

Answer 4

Well I find this a bit confusing. IF there were/are visible marking, cuts, bruising on your body from this girl. It should be an automatic that she IS CHARGED. The police as a rule can opt to NOT charge a person with a crime. By this give a break to someone for like running a red light, or other law violations. BUT when there IS a victim (you) charges should have been filed. MORE SO, when the victim WANTS charges filed. BUT YOU CAN go to your local court house and file charges yourself. YOU CAN also go to your local police department and take this issue up with the chief of police. Good luck. Had you come to my department and it was within my jurisdiction I would have filed the charges.

Answer 5

In the UK. the ultimate decision lies with the CPS. As she has no previous convictions she is entitled to a caution. Do not bother trying to change this it is done.
Learn this. Witness intimidation is an offence. Threats to kill, if you believe she might carry them out) is an offence. Malicious and threatening phone calls are an offence. Harassment is an offence.
Don't dwell on the past go after her for something new. Always quote the previous incident and tell them it is escalating. It needs sorted before someone gets seriously hurt.

I am not saying you should lie about what she does but the bunny boiler needs to know you are not afraid and the Police will act. Keep a record of the calls and what was said, contact you telephone operator and keep texts. Ensure you have witness details if someone else is present. If you do go to court they will get statements from the witnesses.

Answer 6

I'd have my butt in to the prosecuting attorney's office so quickly he'd thought a tornado entered his office.

Insist on filing charges. If they won't budge, go to a lawyer and see if s/he has any advice or could help. The police probably won't arrest her since they didn't have a witness and didn't see it themselves, but if charges are filed at the prosecutor's office, they may have to arrest her at that point... or at least, she'll be served papers to appear in court.

File a restraining order (or most places have what's called an Order of Protection and may not cost anything to file). Did you have pictures taken as proof of what the damage was? Did you go to the hospital or a doctor and have yourself treated? This would go a long way to showing that there were damages and she is a danger to you. Keep the order of protection with you, so if you are confronted with her again, you have number and the police must act to protect you.

This bf better be worth all this, because this crazy ex of his could end up getting bold enough to put you in a world of hurt - or worse. And if your bf was there and did nothing while she wailed on you - I'd say he's getting a vicarous thrill out of it all... not the kind of guy I'd want to hang around.

Answer 7

I would file seperate charges on her for the phone threats, nothing will happen with this but it will establish a violent pattern towards you wich brings up my next suggestion.

I would file an order of protection on her based on the threatening phone call and the battery. This was she is no longer allowed to call you or be near you and if she thinks she will be funny and do it anyway then she will be arrested just for being there she doesnt even have to touch you.

As for the charges against her for the battery, What you need to do is go talk to the local DA (prosecuter for the state/city) Get the report number prior to going to see them it will make things faster and show you are serious. Tell them you don't agree with the police's discision to let her off and that you want to press charges. He will review the case and usually if there has been a crome commited then he will presue charges.

As for witness statement take your boyfriend along with you and tell them that your boyfriend would like to have his statement recorded. Actually your boyfriend whould ask them to do this so it doesnt lok like you are telling him what to do. They will take his statement.

you can also sue her in cival court for the hospital bills and any other damages that were incured (ie scar on face) If you do this she might not e laughing very long.

Some of the posters on here said you could force them to press charges. This is false the DA determines if charges are going to be filed and his say is pretty much final. If they don't think they can make a case they can decline to go after her until they do have enough evidence. They are judged by their court win loss percentage and they dont like to lower it taking cases they dont think they can win. They also dont like to fill up the docket with them either. But if you have enough evidence Ie pictures.statement from others they most likley will take the case.

Uk law might be a little different but opperates much the same as I have been able to observe since moving there.

Answer 8

i do no longer think of that's a logical reason that they have got theory by - that's a subconscious option to conform to a trend it is concern-loose in society. some human beings have published counter-examples like "my sister is a multi-billionaire, and she or he married a guy who runs a flea circus and earns $80 a three hundred and sixty 5 days, yet she loves him." particular there are continuously going to be counter-examples. i actual am a counter-occasion: my spouse earns around two times my earnings - she's a doctor and that i artwork in IT for a charity (no longer voluntary artwork, yet despite the fact that if paid below the economic sector could grant). man or woman counter-examples like those do no longer disprove a winning trend even with the undeniable fact that. Helena published a link to three statistics that supposedly disprove it, however the object would not contain many demanding stats. between the few that jumps out is that of married couples, basically 7% of different halves are the only salary-earners. It would not point out what proportion husbands are sole salary-earners, yet i'm guessing that's a lot greater. on an identical time as the object looks to signify a *vogue* faraway from different halves who're financially supported by skill of their husbands, the gist I have been given from it is that there remains a protracted thank you to bypass.

Answer 9

If you are in the Uk, it is the CPS who state what will happen. It sounds like she was eligable for a caution, and that is what she recieved. No you cannot insist she goes to court. However you could try to take to to a civil court, but bear in mind you will have to provide your own evidence and if you lose you will have to pay a hefty bill.
As for the phone calls, I would report this to the police, the reason is that she might not stop doing this and eventually you could report her for harrasment.

Answer 10

Unfortunately, you can't force the police to prosecute someone. You could see a solicitor (for US readers, that's a lawyer) & see what options are available to you. Taking out a private prosecution against her for a restraining order would be an expensive process, but that might be the only option you have.

Ref the additional details: If you haven't told the police about that phone call, please do so immediately. It might help change the police's mind about prosecuting her. It may only be hot air on her part but it's best not to take a chance with that.

Answer 11

No, you can't insist you they take the matter to court, however, if my memory is correct, the aggrieved (you) must also agree to a caution being issued. If that is still the case, you may have grounds for a complaint against the police.


You're getting a lot of answers here from Americans who don't know British law.