R v. AK
The recent case of R v. AK involved a defendant who had been charged with Grievous Bodily Harm with intent contrary to of the S.18 Offences Against a Person Act 1861.
The particulars of the case were that the defendant had been staying at a hotel with friends and at some point during the evening one of his friends was kidnapped from the premises. This matter was reported to the police who came to investigate. Mr. AK was approached by officers who stated that they wished to speak with him. Mr. AK, a deeply anxious individual, who had recently witnessed the murder of his immediate family was alarmed that he was being approached by police.
Mr. AK attempted to escape but when officers made an attempt to apprehend him, a struggle ensued. During the struggle, one of the officers sustained a fractured finger. Mr. AK was subsequently charged with S.18 GBH.
Our client instructed that he had not caused the injury to the officer; rather, the injury was caused by another officer wielding a truncheon hitting the hand of the other officer. In order to identify the true position we were required to instruct the following experts: –
- A CCTV Enhancement Expert, to improve the blurry CCTV footage and identify whether one officer’s truncheon did indeed hit the other officer’s hand.
- A psychiatrist, due to our client has a history of psychiatric episodes which arose from the fact that he had witnessed the murder of his immediate family. Our client instructed that as a result, when in deeply stressful situations, he suffers from panic attacks and may not intend the consequences which may occur.
- A medical expert to investigate the injury suffered by the officer and to identify how that injury could have been sustained.
The reports prepared by the experts provided the defence team with the evidence to support an application to dismiss the charges, on the grounds that in this case the elements of the offence of grievous bodily harm was not capable of being proved.
The application was duly drafted by Counsel and successfully submitted before the Crown Court, which resulted in all charges relating to this case being dropped.