Offer of No Evidence for Causing Grievous Bodily Harm

Our client faced a single charge of Wounding Without Intent contrary to section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. The charge related to an altercation at his workplace. He was accused of wounding a security guard by striking him in the head with a handheld transceiver, causing a significant injury to the security guard’s ear.

Our client accepted that he had made contact with the guard but had done so in the course of defending himself from an unprovoked attack. He had pushed out at the guard reflexively after the guard repeatedly punched at him and kicked him with steel-toed boots. The handheld transceiver was in his hand already and he had not meant to hit the guard with it.

Client of Good Character 

Our client was of good character and had never been in Court before.

We pursued and obtained multiple witness statements from those present at the scene that supported our client’s account. In advance of trial we made representations to the prosecution that all witness accounts had the Complainant as the aggressor, and our client on the defensive. As a result of our work, on the first day of trial at Southwark Crown Court the prosecution offered no evidence against our client. He was overjoyed that the charges against him were dismissed without the stress of a jury trial.

Lorena Lowen was the solicitor with conduct of this case, assisted by her paralegal Hugo Cheema-Grubb. She instructed Rishy Panesar of Furnival Chambers.