Our client and his on/off again partner enjoyed far too many drinks one evening, which took a bad turn into a punch up in which both parties gave as good as they got. As is often the outcome, police considered our male client to have been “the primary aggressor” and he was charged with Aggravated AOBH. Without the benefit of legal advice and unrepresented, our client walked into court and entered pleas of guilty to the charges, hoping that would be the end of it. Na?ve expectations turned to horror when the prosecutor urged the Magistrate to impose an immediate term of imprisonment as punishment.
Our client was granted an adjournment and was led to our Team. We reviewed his situation and set about preparing an application, supported by affidavits and written legal submissions, to set aside his guilty pleas. The application succeeded at the hearing and we requested that his charges be set down for trial. On the day of trial, his partner who was the principle prosecution witness and had long since forgiven our client for what occurred on that untidy evening, did not attend court. The prosecution was left with no option but to discontinue the charges.
