R v M

Mr. M came to us charged with a very serious section 18 GBH offence. He was alleged to have kicked the complainant in the head and stamped on his face, causing severe and chronic injuries including a broken cheekbone, ulcerated eyeball and the onset of epilepsy. Mr. M was steadfast in his account that he had punched the complainant during a fight but that he had not committed the sinister attack with which he was charged.

The prosecution case against Mr. M was strong on the face of it, with four independent witnesses corroborating the event.

Mr. M’s defence focused on tearing down the Crown’s case. Various pieces of evidence were obtained and admitted by the defence to support our client’s version of events, and the expert witness had no choice but to concede to our client’s explanation. A combination of this, and witnesses not holding up under fierce cross examination resulted in a good outcome for our client.

Mr. M was ultimately acquitted by a jury of the s18 offence, for which he was looking at a 10-year prison sentence. He was instead found guilty of s20 (injury without intent) for the punches which he admits, and was sentenced to just over 1 year in prison.

We instructed James Walker of Carmelite Chambers.