Our client was the victim of a brazen and unprovoked violent assault by the former partner of a woman he was dating, leaving him with severe bruising to his face. In the hope of bringing calm, reason, and maturity to the unexpected reality of being unwittingly caught in the sights of an unhinged former partner, our client did not report the assault to police. Three weeks later, he was walking along the main Terrace in Perth and saw the former partner, who we will refer to as the ‘victim’, walking towards him. Our client had purchased a coffee in a takeaway paper cup 15 minutes earlier and holding it in his hand. As the pair got closer, the victim insulted our client with the term ‘mother fucker’. Taking impassioned offence to the slur, our client has instinctively reacted, and responded, to the insult by splashing the now cooled liquid contents of the paper cup towards the victim. Our client was interviewed by police 4 weeks later and charged with assault. Whilst the victim alleged that that the liquid which was spilled from the cup was ‘hot’, causing redness and burns to his skin, he did not seek medical attention, nor did he take any photographs of his skin. The delay in making a complaint to police and the exaggeration of undocumented ‘injuries’ significantly impacted the credibility of the victim’s account of the encounter.
The matter was listed for trial, and we set about preparing the defence case. There was no real dispute that the contents of the cup were thrown in the direction of the victim, and that act did constitute an ‘assault’, the issue was primarily whether the assault was unlawful. We were confident that we would succeed at trial, on the basis that our client was not criminally responsible for the assault because his actions were justified or excused by law, specifically that he was provoked by the victim’s insult and/or acted to prevent its repetition.
A few weeks out from trial, we invited the prosecution to discontinue the charge, setting out the reasons why we would succeed in establishing the lawfulness of the assault. Two days before the trial, the prosecution communicated their acceptance of our submission and agreed to discontinue proceedings. Our client was awarded costs and glad to put this chapter of his dating life behind him.
