Richard Barrett, instructed by Tank Jowett Solicitors, secured the acquittal of his client charged with three matters: ABH, common assault (battery) and theft, following a week long trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Having originally been arrested on suspicion of robbery, Richard submitted the defence of using reasonable force in lawful self-defence. The complainant had a serious facial injury, that would most likely result in permanent scarring, but he had disengaged from the prosecution process and failed to attend to give evidence.
The prosecution elected to proceed in the absence of the complainant and ran the prosecution on the basis that they had photographs of the injuries which they argued were as a result of either an assault or force that went beyond what is reasonable in the circumstances, thereby depriving the defendant of the defence of self defence.
The jury returned unanimous verdicts of not guilty on the assault occasioning actual bodily harm and the assault by beating. The prosecution offered no evidence in relation to the theft and a not guilty verdict was entered by the Judge.
Richard’s full profile: https://greatjames.co.uk/members/richard-barrett/
To instruct Richard, please contact the clerking team at clerks@greatjames.co.uk or on 0207 440 4949.