No Further Action Domestic Assault Islington Police Station 2024

No further action was taken on allegations of theft, criminal damage and assault at Islington Police Station in July 2024.

The allegation against our client was that she assaulted a family member following a dispute and subsequently smashed plates and glasses. Upon police arrival, our client was found with someone else’s bank card and passport which resulted in her being arrested for various offences.

For our client to be found guilty of Common Assault S.39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the police/prosecution must prove that a person:

• Inflicted violence on someone else; or
• Caused the victim to fear violence

The violence does not need to be physical, for example, threatening words and actions would be sufficient. The violence or threat of violence could be either intentional or reckless.

There are defences available to common assault. Defences can include self-defence, consent or factual whereby the offence did not take place. In this case, our client raised a defence and denied all the allegations made against him.

The offence of Criminal Damage is outlined in S.1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. It states that
‘a person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another intending to destroy or damage any such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged shall be guilty of an offence.’

There are defences available to criminal damage. Defences can include an individual's belief that the victim consented to the damage. In addition, if the individual acted to protect property belonging to himself or to another or in this case, the damage was not caused by our client.

Theft is defined by section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 as the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it.

If you can show that you had a genuine belief that you had the legal right to appropriate the property; the owner would have consented; or the owner cannot be discovered by taking reasonable steps, you would be able to raise a defence to theft.

When attending Islington Police Station, we advised our client on the lack of strength of evidence against them. We advised our client to answer no comment to all questions put forward by the police. As there was a lack of evidence and no account was provided by our client, the police decided to take ‘no further action’ on the allegations and prevent the matter proceeding to court.

We represent clients at the Police Station on 24-hour basis 7 days a week. We have experts dealing with all types of offences including domestic violence allegations. We are highly regarded as leading, and specialist defence solicitors having achieved many successful outcomes.