Not Guilty Common Assault Willesden Mags Court 2023
We were appointed to conduct cross-examination of prosecution witnesses by the court in a violent assault by beating allegation between neighbours following an ongoing dispute about noise and a boundary fence. We remained to represent the defendant free of charge to conclude the case. The assault by beating charge was dismissed by the court on verbal application by Senior Partner Umar Zeb. We discredited the prosecution case substantially so that the magistrates could no longer proceed with the case. Our Client was found not guilty of this charge.
We argued the Galbratih test -
The case of R v Galbraith set out the test for the court to consider when hearing an application for ‘no case to answer’, and it remains good law today. The submission has two limbs as follows:
- Either, that there is no evidence that a crime has been committed by the defendant; or
- That there is some evidence before the court, but it is tenuous or inconsistent in nature.
In those circumstances, the Judge must consider whether the evidence, when taken at its highest, is such that the jury could not properly convict upon it. If the answer to that is yes, then the case should not be allowed to continue, and the Judge should dismiss it. In short, if despite giving the prosecution case the most generous of interpretations the case is still not strong enough to be capable of convincing a jury of guilt, then it should be dismissed.