Published March 2026
Aggravated assault charge discontinued after urgent bail representation and preparation of self-defence and provocation arguments
A call to police for help ended with a woman in an abusive and controlling relationship spending the night in custody herself.
Our client, then 35, had become trapped in a relationship marked by repeated conflict, control and emotional strain. There had been previous breaking points and applications for restraining orders, but the relationship had continued. On more than one occasion, she had withdrawn applications and returned to the relationship after being persuaded to remain. By the time police were called on this occasion, the situation had deteriorated badly.
Unable to tolerate the circumstances any longer, our client contacted police and asked officers to attend. She was seeking help and expected the police response to provide some immediate protection from a relationship she had found increasingly difficult to leave. When officers arrived, however, the situation took an unexpected turn. Her partner complained that he had been assaulted by her.
Our client was emotionally overwhelmed and, after what had become an intense and volatile situation, made admissions to police. Those admissions were treated as significant. Rather than leaving the property as the person who had asked police to intervene, she was arrested, charged with aggravated assault and refused bail.
A friend urgently contacted our firm. By then, our client had spent the night in police custody. The immediate priority was securing her release. We appeared in court the following morning and successfully argued that she should be granted bail. That allowed her to leave custody while the criminal case was prepared.
Once we were able to examine the allegations in the broader context of the relationship, the prosecution case looked very different. The alleged assault could not sensibly be considered in isolation from the history between the parties, the dynamics of the relationship and the circumstances leading up to the police attendance.
After taking detailed instructions and reviewing the available evidence, we identified two potential lines of defence: self-defence and provocation. Those issues were important because the criminal law does not assess a person’s conduct in a vacuum. The surrounding circumstances, including what occurred immediately before the alleged assault and what our client reasonably believed at the time, were capable of being highly relevant to whether a criminal offence had been committed.
The case was prepared for trial on that basis. At the same time, there was another practical issue that needed careful management. Given the history of the relationship, we encouraged and supported our client to maintain no contact with her former partner. That was not an easy step. The relationship had involved a pattern of separation and reconciliation, and remaining apart required resolve. Our client followed that advice.
As the trial approached, the prosecution case was reviewed again. About a month before the listed hearing, a police prosecutor considered the brief and reached a similar conclusion about the difficulties the prosecution faced. Our office was contacted and advised that all charges would be discontinued. The result meant our client no longer had to face trial on the aggravated assault allegation and, importantly, no conviction was recorded.
For a woman who had initially contacted police seeking help, only to find herself arrested and held overnight, that outcome was significant.
We then applied for a contribution towards our client’s legal costs. That application was successful.
The case ultimately ended with the charges dismissed, no conviction, and an order for part of our client’s legal costs.
It also demonstrated how important context can be in family and domestic violence matters. An allegation may appear straightforward when reduced to a single incident or admission, but the wider relationship history can materially change how the conduct should be understood.
In this case, the distinction between aggressor and victim was far less simple than the initial police response suggested.
Careful preparation, early identification of the available defences and a proper understanding of the relationship history were critical to the final outcome.