GBH/ABH when do the police/authorities take action?

[malumbu]

All the coverage of Ben Stokes' case (making no comment on the case itself) got me thinking

Back in the mists of time two gatecrashers at a house party started a fight. One was picking on vulnerable people until someone stood up to him - who received a punch from his good citizenship. The other picked up two bottles, broke them underarm on the sink (clearly knew what he was doing) and scarpered by the time the bizzies arrived.

One mate went off to A&E with cuts to his back, another badly beaten, and even in front of the police a third got a punch to the face.

The reaction of the fuzz was that it was Saturday night and typical small market town and no action. No shortage of witnesses.

So

(a) have things changed over intervening decades

(b) is this simply a different approach between Oxfordshire constabulary and Somerset and Avon police

© large city vs small market town?

[JohnL]

The laws strict if it gets applied - section 4 (or 5) makes being threatening or insulting someone a crime with no violence to the person required to convict. In the Ben Stokes case after they described Stokes rolling around on the floor with the 2 other guys and after that they backed off and said they'd had enough, at the same time his friend told him to lay off. The prosecutor then said in court if it had stopped then we wouldn't be here. (all taken from the press)

I wondered why they wouldn't have been there on lesser charges (unless he meant Crown Court).

So I think it depends on the police, the victim and the evidence to convict. These days the CPS decides whether to prosecute but back in the day (maybe the above incident) the police decided whether to prosecute.

[malumbu]

Come on ladies and gents. Even the who has a spare Saturday Guardian has more posts. This is a nice juicy one for you to get your teeth into. I wouldn't even mind if you want ranting on about Ben Stokes and the waste of government money. I doubt if we would have shaken hands with the lovely chap with his two broken bottles. Maybe he was from a broken family and it was a cry for help.

Thanks John L - it sounds far more arbitrary in those days. The Oxfordshire constabulary probably thought that a bit of Saturday night violence was character building and 'rights of passage'

[JohnL]

Not guilty -but Ryan Ali not guilty too and Ryan Hale case was dismissed earlier..

Someone online suggested affray was the wrong charge as it only applied to bystanders feeling threatened. Assault/ABH may have been the correct charge. The two guys Stokes was supposed to be defending have supported him in the papers but all parties not guilty so it's a bit confusing.

Stoke's barrister even suggested his friend could have caused the injuries (no charges brought).

I still feel if I personally interfered in a case of bullying and caused that damage I wouldn't have stood a chance in court.

[uncleglen]

The 'bit of violence' was often carried out by the cops themselves back in the mists of my time....acted as a deterrent to many would-be crims....