Our client was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm after an altercation with his adult daughter. The relationship between them had been tumultuous for many years. On the night of the alleged offending, the complainant was at our client’s home to assist her mother with moving belongings. Throughout the evening, the complainant continuously insulted our client. Our client did not react but did ask her to leave the property several times.
The complainant placed multiple items in the back of our client’s truck tray. Our client began removing those items, tossing them behind him. One of those items landed by the feet of the complainant, and she attempted to hurl it towards our client’s head whilst his back was turned. A verbal heated exchanged ensued leading our client’s wife and other daughter stepping in to intervene. Shortly thereafter, the complainant launched a storage box directly into our client’s chest. Our client responded by punching the complainant to the head.
On reviewing the CCTV footage captured by our client’s own home security system, we were satisfied that there was independent evidence to support our client’s belief that he had been provoked to assault his daughter. The CCTV was disclosed to the prosecution and grounded our submission to discontinue the prosecution, which, was ultimately accepted. We were also awarded costs which went some way to off-set our client’s legal fees.
