Our client was a 35-year-old woman who had succumb to an unhealthy, abusive, and controlling relationship. Despite breaking points on several prior occasions and restraining orders, she could not extricate herself and would inevitably withdraw the applications and be persuaded to stay in the relationship.
One fateful day, our client called Police and requested their attendance, as she could not withstand the abuse any longer. When police officers arrived, her partner made a complaint of having been the victim of an assault by our client. Our client, who had been pushed beyond her emotional limit to commit an assault, naively confessed. Police arrested our client, charged her with aggravated assault and refused to grant her bail.
A friend of our client made urgent contact with our firm and engaged us to appear for a bail application. After spending overnight in police custody, we successfully argued for our client’s release the next morning.
After learning of our client’s relationship background, we advised our client she had two potential lines of defence to the charge, namely, self-defence and provocation
In the lead up to her trial, we provided our client with encouragement and support to maintain no contact with her abuser. It was no doubt difficult, but she remained resolute.
One month prior to her listed trial, a police prosecutor reviewed the brief of evidence and formed a similar view to ours on the prospects of securing a conviction. The police prosecutor contacted our office and advised that they would be discontinuing all charges.
Following her charges being dismissed by the Court, we made application for a portion of our client’s legal costs to be awarded and were successful in doing so.