The Trial Outcome

[ktun 0]

Hi All,

Well we're now in England and even made the connection at Chicago, arrived Saturday 22nd in the early hours!!!

Some of you might remember that my husband was attacked when we were here last September and his hand was badly broken. Attack Details Since then he's had several surgeries and the hand is now permanently deformed and he will never regain full use of it. The man who did was charged with Inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm on Craig, Racially Aggravated Common Assault on another man, Racially Aggravated Criminal Damage on that same man, Common Assault on a woman and Affray. The CPS paid for our flights over here to give evidence at the trial which was due to start this Monday 24th April.

Well, here's what happened:

We got to the Crown Court just before 9am and were taken into the Witness waiting area. After a while the Detective in charge of the case came into the room and took Craig and I into a separate room to take a further statement, this time an Impact Statement which would be taken into consideration for the sentencing if the defendant was found guilty. Another one of the officers involved in the case then came and told us that they thought that he might change his plea, or at least that is what his barrister was trying to get him to do, since the evidence and the witness accounts were so strongly against him. The detective in charge of the case said that they told him that they would drop the Common Assault and the Criminal Damage charges if he pleaded guilty to the other three charges of GBH, Racially Aggravated Common Assault and Affray. It turned out that he did decide to plead at the last minute and we were taken into the courtroom to hear him plead GUILTY!!! You have no idea what a relief this is, after the months of pain and problems we've been through since this happened. It was a relief to me not to have to give evidence as I was afraid to see him again in the courtroom. Although Craig wasn't bothered and perhaps part of him would have preferred to give evidence, and feels perhaps it is sort of a let down not to be able to testify in front of a jury after travelling so far to do so.

Well, the interesting part is that after he plead guilty we found out from what his barrister said to the judge and what the police told us outside the courtroom that he was already in jail for Armed Robbery which he did AFTER he was released on bail for this trial. So he is awaiting that trial now too. Because of this, sentencing has been delayed for about a month and we'll go back to the Crown Court on 22nd May to hear the sentencing. Surprisingly when the Prosecution barrister asked for an extended sentence, the Defence agreed, so it looks like he will be incarcerated for awhile! The police took some new pictures to show that 7 months since the attack Craig's hand is permanently deformed and scarred to present to the judge with the Impact Statements at the sentencing hearing. They seem to really want to push for a harsh sentence so I hope that it will be granted.

Since the case did not actually end up going to trial we will have the rest of the month here in England to ourselves! I guess it has turned into an unexpected holiday. We hope things are finally turning a corner for us into a more positive direction. The day that we left the States (21st April) we got our AOS interview date for 22nd June, and now we have a month to spend time with my family and will be making a start on the compensation forms for Craig's injuries and the surgeries, before returning to the States on 24th May.

Well, I guess that is it. Once again I have rambled on longer than I should, so thank you for reading.

Best wishes

Kate

[Garfield fan 0]

Glad everything turned out fine for both of you. Have a nice vacation now !!

[Welshcookie 17]

wow....I remember reading about that!.....I am glad you didn't have to stand up in court after all....

Your hubby should apply for compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board for the extent of his injuries....if he hasn't already....

Hope you can soon but this behind you....

[anya-D 8]

Glad everything work out for u ^^ wich you luck for AOS too.

[sukie175 0]

Great to have it behind you

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Wow. Why did the guy attack your fiance? I read the story but didn't see a reason.

[ktun 0]

Wow. Why did the guy attack your fiance? I read the story but didn't see a reason.

Because the guy is an alcoholic and decided to attack about 4 different people. My husband yelled at him to stop attacking this young guy and this woman who had both stopped to tell him to stop attacking his wife. So when my husband yelled at him to stop, the maniac turned on him too.

PS// ...and picked up a bottle and broke it off, to try to cut my husband. But instead he got flipped beneath our parked car and sat upon ... Then the undercover police arrived, and the man went after them as well !

Craig also got bitten once. The man had his teeth filed to points !?!? It was like some strange movie scene that you just couldn't believe.

[Jasman0717 9]

Glad to hear it all worked out. I hope that keep that scum in prison forever. It is a crying shame when innocent victims are maimed for life and the criminals have more rights that the victims

[Fandango 1,440]

glad to hear it worked out as best it could!

[almaty 19]

Wow. Why did the guy attack your fiance? I read the story but didn't see a reason.

Because the guy is an alcoholic and decided to attack about 4 different people. My husband yelled at him to stop attacking this young guy and this woman who had both stopped to tell him to stop attacking his wife. So when my husband yelled at him to stop, the maniac turned on him too.

PS// ...and picked up a bottle and broke it off, to try to cut my husband. But instead he got flipped beneath our parked car and sat upon ... Then the undercover police arrived, and the man went after them as well !

Craig also got bitten once. The man had his teeth filed to points !?!? It was like some strange movie scene that you just couldn't believe.

that guy was a chopf##k..i glad it is behind you and your husband

[meauxna 15]

Kate, I'm so glad for your successful outcome with this! Enjoy your time 'out' and bring back lots of groceries!

[Jaylen Brit 0]

wow! But thank god the worst is past now and you can move on with yr lives...many hugs and good wishes and here's hoping he gets locked up for a LONG time

[Melo 1]

Am glad it worked out as best it could under the circumstances. Good luck for all that lies ahead.

[ktun 0]

Thank you all for the replies and good wishes. We'll be attending the sentencing hearing on 22nd May and then fly home on 24th. Apart from that we'll be taking the opportunity to visit loads of family and generally relax.

Best wishes to all

Kate & Craig

[thndrdancr 0]

Kate,

I just now read this, glad everything turned out okay at the trial and DO enjoy your time there. So nice you got your AOS date right before you left.

Hope to keep in touch when you get back home.

Jill