Bar Mock Trial Competition 2016/17. Case 2: R v Edwards

Transcription

1 Bar Mock Trial Competition 2016/17

2 The Queen v Alex Edwards (Case 2) Summary of Facts This is an incident which took place between two neighbours. There have been previous disputes between them before but matters have never turned violent. On the evening in question Toni Williams was at home watching television. Alex Edwards lives next door. Throughout the evening Toni Williams was disturbed by loud music coming from Alex Edwards s has. Shortly before 10pm Toni Williams heard Alex Edwards leaving his/her house and walking in the direction of the local shops. He/she decided to and confront him/her about the noise. Toni Williams caught up with Alex Edwards about on the local green which is about 15 meters directly in front of the houses. When Alex Edwards if he/she could keep the noise down Alex Edwards became aggressive and started shouting. A verbal argument took place which ended with Alex Edwards punching Toni Williams in the face causing bruising, bleeding and a broken nose. The incident was witnessed by two other people. Robin Goodly who is a friend of Alex Edwards and had been visiting him that night. The second witness is another neighbour Ronny Childs. Both Robin Goodly and Ronny Childs had heard shouting so came out to see what was happening. Ronny Childs telephoned the police. PC Stamp attended and arrested Alex Edwards. Alex Edwards was taken to Everytown Police station and interviewed. In interview he accepted hitting Toni Williams but claimed he/she was acting in self-defence. He stated that Toni Williams was the aggressor and spat at him/her. Alex Edwards went on to say he/she thought that Toni Williams was about to go for him/her and so he/she hit him/her in order to protect him/herself. The Charge ALEX EDWARDS on the 1st day of June 2016 at Flat 16, Washington Road, Everytown assaulted Toni Williams thereby causing him actual bodily harm. The Law Alex has been charged with assaulting Toni causing him Actual Bodily Harm. In order to be found guilty of this Alex must have; Assaulted Toni meaning in this instance used unlawful force on him; and That this caused Toni actual bodily harm; and That Alex did this either intentionally or recklessly. The phrase Actual bodily harm is not explicitly defined in the Offences Against the Person Act Over the years the courts have interpreted this to mean any injury calculated to interfere with the health and comfort (of the victim) (From the case - Miller [1954] 2 QB 282). There is no dispute that Toni s injuries fall into this category. Alex does not deny he hit Tony but his case is that he was acting in self-defence. In order to rely on selfdefence Alex will have to persuade the jury that he; Genuinely believed that he was about to be attacked by Toni; and 2

3 Case 1: R v Edwards That the force he used was reasonable in the circumstances i.e. he didn t go over the top. You will also see that the incident is witnessed by two other individuals but they give different accounts of what they saw. This doesn t mean necessarily that they are lying even an honest witness can make a mistake. It is important to consider the circumstances in which they were viewing the incident. For instance; At what distance? What was the lighting like? Was there anything that might have impeded the witness view of the person? How much if the incident did they see. It is also necessary to consider any information you have about the witness making the identification. Is there anything about them that might may have effected their observations of what took place. 3

4 INDICTMENT IN THE EVERYTOWN CROWN COURT THE QUEEN -V- ALEX EDWARDS ALEX EDWARDS is charged as follows: Count 1 STATEMENT OF OFFENCE Assault occasioning actual bodily harm contrary to s.47 of the Offences Against the Person Act PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE ALEX EDWARDS on the 1st day of June 2016 at Flat 16, Washington Road, Everytown assaulted Toni Williams thereby causing him actual bodily harm. 4

5 STATEMENT OF PROSECUTION WITNESS Prosecution Witness 1 Name: TONI WILLIAMS Age of witness: Over 18 (If over 18 Insert over 18 ) Occupation: Bank Assistant This statement (consisting of 2 pages each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that, if it is tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution if I have wilfully stated anything which I know to be false or do not believe to be true. Dated the 3rd day of June 2016 I make this statement in relation to an incident which took place on 1st June I was at home by myself watching television. However, throughout the evening I was constantly disturbed by loud music which was coming from my next door neighbour s home. My neighbour is called Alex Edwards. I have had problems with Alex playing loud music before and when I have tried to raise this with him/her he/she has always been very rude. At various stages in the evening I considered going an knocking on his/her door but I was reluctant to do so because I was concerned about how he/she would react. However as the evening wore on I became more and more irate and angry. I can honestly say that my enjoyment of Strictly Come Dancing was totally ruined. I normally go to sleep about 10pm and was very thankful that shortly before 10pm the music was turned down. However, I then heard Alex Edwards opening his/her front door and shouting that he/she was just running down to the supermarket for some more beers. At this stage I knew I had to say something. I was at absolutely fuming and knew that if he/she came back with alcohol the music was bound to start up again and I d be kept awake all night. It took me a few moments to put my shoes and coat on. When I left my house Alex Edwards was already on the green. There is a grassy area in front of the houses and Alex was about 15 meters away from my front door. I shouted at him/her to just to get his/her attention. He/she turned round looked at me, shrugged and kept on walking. Because of this I ran to catch up with him/her and shouted at him/her to wait because I needed to talk. When I caught up with him/her he/she said to me what do you want? I would describe the way he/she said it was very aggressive. he/she was using a loud voice and was incredibly hostile. I tried to explain politely that his/her music was very loud, that it had disturbed my television watching and I now needed to go to bed but he/she didn t care. He/she started shouting at me called me lots of rude names and was waving his/her hands in the air aggressively. I told him/her that this was not the first time this had happened and that I was sick of it and that this time I wasn t going to let him/her get away with it. I had intended to go back to my house and call the police. But the next thing I knew he/she had punched me in the face. It was entirely 5

6 unprovoked. I fell to the floor. I was absolutely dazed and the next thing I remember was another neighbour called Ronny Child shouted out that he/she had rung the police. Alex Edwards then walked back into his/her house and I walked back into mine. The police attended and Alex Edwards was arrested. Following this incident my face was bruised and bloodied. I later attended Accident and Emergency where it was discovered I had a broken nose. Signature of Witness: Toni Williams 6

7 STATEMENT OF WITNESS Prosecution Witness 2 Name: RONNY CHILDS Age of witness: Over 18 (If over 18 Insert over 18 ) Occupation: RETIRED This statement (consisting of 1 page each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that, if it is tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution if I have wilfully stated anything which I know to be false or do not believe to be true. Dated the 2 nd day of June 2016 I make this statement in relation to an incident which took place on 1st June I have lived on Washington Road for 35 years. In this statement I shall mention two of my neighbours. The first is called Toni Williams who lives five doors away from me. I have known Toni since he/she has lived there which I think is about 5 years ago. I have always found him/her to be very nice and respectable. The other person I shall mention is called Alex. I don t know his/her second name and have never spoken to him/her but he/she has always struck me as being a bit rough looking. he/she lives next door to Toni Williams on the opposite side to me. On the evening in question I was already ready for bed. I had gotten into my nightclothes and taken off my glasses. Suddenly I heard shouting from outside. I could hear that it was two loud voices although I couldn t hear exactly what was being said. However, looking back on it now knowing that Toni was punched I would say that one of the voices seemed more aggressive and I am sure that must have been Alex. I didn t go outside because I was worried about what might happen but I wanted to know what was going on so I went and looked through my sitting room window. On the green about 15 meters away I saw two people. I could see that one of them was Alex as he/she was facing the row of houses. I couldn t see who the other person was at the time because he/she had his/her back to me. I couldn t see what this person was doing. The shouting continued and I saw Alex put his/her hands up. I would say this was in an aggressive way. The next thing I know Alex has punched the person who had his/her back to me and they fell to the floor. I later found out this was Toni. My phone was on the window sill so I called the police and told them that two people were fighting outside my house. The police operator said that someone was on their way. I then opened my front door and shouted that I had called the police. The day after the incident I saw Toni and his/her face was very badly bruised and he told me his nose had been broken. I felt very sorry for him/her. Signature of Witness: Ronny Childs 7

8 Prosecution Witness 3 (Section 9 Statement) Name: PC STAMP Age of witness: Over 18 (If over 18 Insert over 18 ) Occupation: Police Constable This statement (consisting of 1 page each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that, if it is tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution if I have wilfully stated anything which I know to be false or do not believe to be true. Dated the 1st day of June 2016 On 1st June 2016 I was on duty in full uniform when I received a call over my police radio. I was informed that a 999 call had been made by a resident of Washington Road who had reported two people fighting outside his/her property. On my arrival I spoke to Ronny Child who had made the 999 call. He/she informed me that the fight had occurred between two of his/her neighbours and that one of them Alex Edwards had punched the other Toni Williams in the face. I went to speak to Toni Williams who confirmed to me that Alex Edwards had hit him/her following an argument between the two people about Alex Edwards music being played too loudly. I could see that Toni Williams face was bruised and covered in blood which seemed to be coming from his/her nose. He/she appeared very upset. As a result of this information I went to the home of Alex Edwards where I arrested and cautioned him/her. On arrest Alex Williams stated are you serious? He/she was then one who went for me. Alex Edwards was then taken to Everytown Police station to be interviewed. He/she was later charged with assault and released on bail. Signature of Witness: PC Stamp 8

9 STATEMENTS OF DEFENCE WITNESSES Defendant (Defence Witness 1) Name: ALEX EDWARDS Age of witness: Over 18 (If over 18 Insert over 18 ) Occupation: Builder This statement (consisting of 1 pages each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that, if it is tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution if I have wilfully stated anything which I know to be false or do not believe to be true. Dated the 2nd day of June 2016 I make this statement in relation to an incident on 1st June 2016 when my neighbour Toni Williams attempted to attack me. I have lived next to Toni Williams for about a year. We have never really got on. I would describe him/her as a busy-body and a bit of a snob. We ve had words in the past when he/she has complained that my music has been too loud. I have tried to deal with this politely and explain that my hearing is bad from working with building machinery even though he/she is really rude in how he/she talks to me. On the evening in question my friend Robin Goodly had come to visit me and were listening to some music and drinking some beers. I would describe it as a really relaxed evening. I wasn t drinking too much as I had to work the next day but Robin didn t so he/she drank a bit more. Shortly before 10pm we ran out of beer. Robin offered to go and get some more but as he/she was a bit drunk I said I would go. As I was walking across the green I heard some shouting behind me. I turned round and saw my neighbour Toni Williams. I didn t think he/she was talking to me so I turned back round and kept walking. The next thing I knew was that I heard Toni Williams shouting and screaming at me. I can t remember exactly what was said but it was something along the lines of Oi you get here I want a word with you. He/she was very aggressive threatening and running right at me. He stopped in front of me and began absolutely ranting at me about my music. I tried to explain that I hadn t realised it was so loud but I couldn t get a word in. I had my arms held in front of me as a way of trying to calm him/her down, but the next thing I knew he/she had spat at me. I was absolutely stunned. He/she then said something like I m not letting you get away with it this time. he/she moved towards me and I felt sure he/she was about to attack me. I accept that I hit him/her in the face but it was absolute instinct because he/she was about to go for me. My friend Robin had come outside and I heard another neighbour shout they had called the police. Robin suggested we go inside and wait for the police to arrive which is what I did. Signature of Witness: Alex Edwards 9

10 STATEMENTS OF DEFENCE WITNESSES Defence Witness 2 Name: ROBIN GOODLY Age of witness: Over 18 (If over 18 Insert over 18 ) Occupation: Trainee Scaffolder This statement (consisting of 2 pages each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that, if it is tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution if I have wilfully stated anything which I know to be false or do not believe to be true. Dated the 3rd day of June 2016 I have been asked to make a statement in relation to an incident involving my friend Alex Edwards. I have known Alex most of my life as we went to school together and now work together on building sites. On 1st June this year we had both been working. I wasn t working the next day as I was going to go on holiday. I decided to go to Alex s house for a few beers. I would say that between 6pm and 10pm I drank about 6 cans of beer. As we had run out of beer Alex offered to go an buy some more. I stayed in the house and was just checking the football scores on my mobile when I heard shouting outside. I thought one of the voices sounded like Alex. I opened the door and I could see Alex standing on the green about 15 meters away with another man. Although it was dark there was street lighting nearby. I couldn t hear what was being said I would definitely describe the other person as being the aggressor. He/she was right up in Alex s face and shouting. I wasn t close enough to see who the other person was. I could see that Alex had his/her arms in front of him/her in what I would describe as a calm down gesture but the other person didn t appear to be listening. I decided to run over to see if I could help. As I was running over I saw the person suddenly move forward. To me it looked like he/she was about to attack Alex. I then saw Alex hit him/her in the face and the person fell to the ground. It all happened very fast and it would obvious that Alex was just acting instinctively. I heard someone else shout they had called the police so I told Alex to come back inside and wait for them to arrive. I was absolutely shocked when Alex was arrested. In my view he/she was absolutely right to act has he/she did. The person was just about to hit him/her and Alex needed to do what he/she did to protect himself/herself. Signature of Witness: Robin Goodly 10