The Court: Frankston Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Hayden Brodie
The Charges:
The Allegations:
The client was a passenger on a train when a woman he had previously had a family dispute with also boarded the train. Looks were exchanged, and shortly before the client exited the train, he approached the complainant. The client proceeded with a verbal barrage against the complainant and then exited the train.
The complainant in her statement alleged that during the verbal abuse, the client put something sharp on her back and made threats to kill her before he fled, exiting the train.
At Court:
Due to the incident taking place on a train, it was captured on CCTV. After requesting and viewing the CCTV footage, it became clear that the client did indeed approach the complainant and verbally abuse her.
However, what was also clear in the footage was that at no time did the client approach the complainant from behind with a weapon of any sort. Even though, based on the footage, the threat to kill and common assault charges may have been made out, the complainant had lied about the initial incident, stating that the client had threatened her using a weapon. This was a blow to the complainant’s credibility which would have ultimately affected the prosecution case.
Following a case conference with a police prosecutor on the morning of court, our solicitor showed the CCTV footage to the prosecutor and indicated that the complainant’s statement was inconsistent with the footage and therefore the charges against the client should be withdrawn.
The Outcome:
The prosecution reviewed the footage and agreed with our position and subsequently withdrew the charges against the client.
This was a fantastic outcome for the client as he avoided criminal proceedings and any finding of guilt.
