How to get justice for victim of assault in UK?

July 6, 2008 2:00 PM

What can I do to help a friend, victim of a vicious assault at the hands of her husband, get some justice from the UK legal system?

[Apologies in advance that this is quite long.]

A close friend of my mine here in London, let's call her Anna, was the victim of a vicious assault by her then-husband, which left her in hospital for a month. The police prosecution against him was ended on its first day in court and we're struggling to understand why, and what we can do next to get some sort of justice.

Anna is Russian and although her English is good, she's not quite up to following proceedings in a British court.

The background. About nine months ago she and her husband started arguing outside their flat. She ended up with a smashed shin, lying on the ground and screaming for help - which only came twenty minutes later when a neighbour responded as she was losing consciousness. She then spent a month in hospital and now has a titanium rod in her leg for life.

He claims the injury was caused by her falling over a step, a claim which seems patently ridiculous. The step in question is the size of a street-side curb, and she's so small that she'd hardly be able to break her shin under her own force. Furthermore, if she had fallen, why would he have left her to be eventually rescued by a neighbour and not have done something himself?

There were no direct witnesses, although three of his friends sitting inside the house (about 15 metres away) , in a room without an outside window, support his story.

From what I gather, the police brought a prosecution for grievous bodily harm. On the first morning of the case the judge brought the case to an end. Because of the language difficulties, Anna's not completely sure of why this happened, but thinks it might have been because one of her statements to police said she had been kicked and pushed, whereas a subsequent statement mentions only kicking. It seems absurd that that could really be the reason though.

However, the policeman in charge of the case has since been impossible to get hold of, leaving Anna at a loss to get clarity over why the case failed and what options are left now. This lack of communication and support has been a persistent and exasperating feature of Anna's experience with the police.

What now? Quite understandably, Anna wants this creep to face justice.

(1) First of all, she'd like to find out how she can request a proper explanation of what happened in court.

(2) Next, she'd like to be able to get someone who can clearly explain what options remain (appeal? private case?), ideally with me there to help her understand.

(3) Also, and quite urgently, we also need to find if there's a way she can get temporary leave to remain in the country while we pursue this. She did have a spousal visa but now they're divorced we suppose it's just a matter of time until her visa is withdrawn and she has to leave the country. At that point we can see the chances of this case being taken seriously by anyone vanishing altogether.

Just to clarify, we're both complete novices when it comes to legal issues and in no financial position to hire lawyers. But we're both totally incredulous that a vicious attack like this has been dealt with so half-heartedly and insensitively by the police, and that this horrible person has walked away from a crime which has left Anna scarred physically and emotionally for life.

I'm trying to keep as calm and factual as possible as I write this, but you can probably imagine the anger, frustration and disgust we both feel at the moment. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

posted by nihotaniwha to law & government (9 comments total)

Citizens Advice Bureau (find your local branch).
Refuge domestic violence charity (their free helpline).
The Community Legal Advice service.
Rights Of Women legal adviceline.
The national free Victim Support helpline.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 2:24 PM on July 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

Women's Aid
www.womensaid.org.uk
have a list of branches in various parts of London
http://www.womensaid.org.uk/azrefuges.asp?section=00010001000800060002&region_code=01MM&x=8&y=6

National Domestic Violence Helpline (free)
0808 200 0247 could also suggest where to go next

National Centre for Domestic Violence
08709 220704 24
seem to help you work out if you qualify for free legal aid
posted by runincircles at 2:32 PM on July 6, 2008

Hmmm. The crown (ie the police) brought the charge to court. From your information, the victim is unsure or cannot explain what happened. 3 witnesses and the accused both refute the two (differing) accounts from the only witness (the victim). Injuries are not evidence without some sort of proof/suggestion beyond reasonable doubt as to how they happened. If the only witness (Also the victim) is unsure, as you suggest, this is very shaky straight away.

My guess (no legal background, but logic and general awareness of UK court systems) is that it was thrown out for lack of evidence. Regardless of how this may seem unfair to you, if there is not enough evidence or supporting information/testimony to present a case, the judge may throw it out for precisely that reason. The judge is saying "Well, there's not enough for you to prove that he did it, even without me trying to judge the evidence to see if you are right or not". If it looks like a case is likely to get blown out of the water on technicalities or lack of evidence, it is not worth the courts time to try and make it stick, basically.

This can happen with something that everyone may know who did what, and how guilty they are, but if the crown/prosecution can't prove it beyond reasonable doubt, a conviction is unlikely.

I am also unsure how she can appeal a decision that she didn't take to court. Hopefully someone at these legal aid places will be able to help her more, and possibly even provide a translator as part of it all.

But we're both totally incredulous that a vicious attack like this has been dealt with so half-heartedly and insensitively by the police

The police can only deal with facts and what they can prove, I'm afraid. I've known people have to suck up equally bizarre convictions/court conclusions mainly because the other side was always going to look more convincing in court (young lad in father's fast car gets dangerous driving conviction for 'making respected surgeon crash', despite the (later retracted) admission at the scene of the accident that said surgeon actually fell asleep at the wheel).

... this horrible person has walked away from a crime which has left Anna scarred physically and emotionally for life.

Scarring and emotional damage are a long way from overwhelming evidence to support a conviction, though. This is harsh reality and is far from fair. Just playing devil's advocate here, but it may be more helpful to her healing/recovery to not channel all her energy into getting a conviction and more into getting her own life on track. Perhaps using that legal aid for securing a visa, rather than pursuing a revenge conviction that has already been dropped by the crown once.

Sorry. But sometimes things like this happen (ie shitty people getting away with shitty things just because their mates said they didn't do it).
posted by Brockles at 3:02 PM on July 6, 2008

Point 3 seems the most pressing, remaining in the country. Assuming she is still in the probationary period of her spousal visa, she should really get specialist advice on getting indefinite leave to remain on grounds of the marriage breaking down due to domestic violence. In the meantime pursuing the ex via all legal recourses (as well as being a good idea in itself) should help her in making an application to remain. An injunction, relevant police caution or non-molestation order may suffice (see all the helpful links already supplied for advice on that); if these are not obtainable, she should at least look to getting letters of support from a medical professional, and/or social services, and/or a refuge, as evidence of the domestic abuse.

Find an immigration specialist via Immigration Advisory Service, tel [phone].

Beyond all that, a civil case for personal injury may be more feasible than pursuing the criminal angle. But that can't be done if you're deported.

Good luck.
posted by wilko at 3:42 PM on July 6, 2008

Call the Crown's Office and ask them.

Also you might do well to go to the court house yourself and talk to the clerk or the records department and get a copy of the transcript or the ruling from them.

The cop will likely only have been informed of the stay of proceedings or the Crown's decision not to prosecute or whatever else it was that happened, not the exact reason why. Cops don't have the time or brain space to keep detailed records of the outcome of ever case they report on.

Oh, and in case this isn't obvious. You need a real, local, laywer. If there's no money try legal aid, but without a local laywer to give you advice I'd rate your chances at near 0, given that the case has already been closed or lost or something.
posted by tiamat at 8:07 PM on July 6, 2008

Some specific on-point info (found by googling immigration domestic violence London):

"an application may be made as soon as it is relevant to the Home Office asking for indefinite leave to remain to be granted to person who is the victim of domestic violence during their limited (probationary) leave to enter or remain in the UK as the spouse or unmarried partner of a person present and settled here, and domestic violence was the reason for the marriage or relationship breakdown, and the applicant is no longer living with the sponsor. There needs to be proof that domestic violence tool place; such as an injunction, non-molestation order or other protection order made against the sponsor, a relevant court conviction, or full details of a relevant police caution against the sponsor. Other evidence may include a medical report or GP letter, a police report, a court undertaking or a letter from social services or a women’s domestic violence service/refuge-generally, more than one of these types of evidence will be needed."

"Asylum and immigration law: protecting women from violence and securing their position in the UK: ** 23 April 2008 9.30am - 4.30pm" Obviously this course has already been run, but the trainer and/or participants may be contactable through Women In London.

And here is a whole page of info.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 8:23 PM on July 6, 2008

IMHO

1) There was most likely other people in the court at the time, and the judge likely has some records as well, not to mention any court recorder who's job it is to write this stuff down. I imagine there's some process to go through to get access to them, but it may be worth it.

2) Perhaps not the most socially acceptable answer, but it sounds like the ass in question needs a little beating of his own. And I'm a gentle person by nature.

3) Best to contact the visa office

My offering...
posted by hungrysquirrels at 10:34 PM on July 6, 2008

Did she have an interpreter at any stage? You mention language difficulties - in the UK legal system a decent interpreter should be available to overcome these, and can help with procedure too, in some cases. She/her lawyer should be looking on the National Register of Public Services Interpreters ( - the person/body commissioning interpreting services has to subscribe to the register, so probably not an option for her as an individual, but the court should be able to get her an interpreter. If she's not happy with the one she gets, she should say so and ask for another. It could be that you're fluent in Russian and English, but as a friend you're probably not the ideal interpreter for her.

I don't know much about the legal situation but do look into Legal Aid.

This advice might not come at the right time for you, but if anyone else finds this question while searching it might be useful for them.
posted by altolinguistic at 2:12 AM on July 7, 2008

Thank you all so much for replying. I appreciate all the pointers and links. Brockles, thanks for the dose of reality too. At the back of my mind I guess I realised that this was essentially her word against his and that that isn't really a very strong starting place.

I'm going to see what else I can do by trying out some of those organisations, but I'm prepared to accept that sometimes, as brockles says, shitty people just get away with shitty things and there's no doing anything about it. I suppose in the scheme of things worse injustices go unchecked all the time, but it's infuriating when something so repulsive happens close to home and there's nothing that can be done.

Hungrysquirrels, your solution no.2 is very tempting - but I've left my fingerprints all over the internet now!

Again, thank you all very much.
posted by nihotaniwha at 2:17 PM on July 7, 2008