Been called to court..help!

gabyjane

Hope this is th eright place for this!
I called the police on our neighbour months ago..i have now been called to court and am really worried..basically i have a useless memory and cannot remember exactly what happened on the night, he has had a few episodes and not sure which bit happened when..i have a letter explaining where it's held..a victim support one and an expences form..no statement though.
It says i will be show it when i get there but tbh im going to be so worried im not sure ill take it all in then i worry ill muck it up with nerves and he will get off.
Also (havent asked her yet) can my sister come with me? not in obviously but with me there and back as support..
Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

You've made a statement to the Police but you haven't had sight of the transcription yet but shall when you go to court, is that right?

Give yourself plenty of time to read it through and then read it back again. If you were certain that what you described at the time was an accurate representation of the events as you experienced them, rely on it. If you can't now remember exactly, in detail, any particular event or sequence of events it might be possible to explain that what was complained of has happened more than once, hence the uncertainty. None of us are always aware that events we take part in or witness will need to be scrutinised and discussed later on or we'd all pay much, much more attention at the time. Don't forget, the neighbour is the one having to answer to a complaint, it's not you and your memory which are on trial.

I think it's likely that the magistrate or judge or whatever will be being asked to assess on the balance of probability, whether this neighbour has committed an offense so if this neighbour has done whatever it is they are accused of numerous times before and not just this once when the Police attended it would possibly be a compelling reason to infer that they have in this particular instance as well IYSWIM.

Good luck and please stop worrying

lostinrates

Your sister can come to court with you, and either wait outside the court room (in the court) there is most likely to be seating right outside the room. Usually she can even slip in and sit in the court while you give your evidence if you want (there are a few cases where the court' public gallery is not open)

gabyjane

Hi thanks for the reply.
Yes i did a statement and haven't seen it since, says on the letter that i will be able to look at it when i arrive. I said to dh the problem is it has happened quite a bit and we have only reported him once..i get the numerous 'events' mixed up!..i dont want to get it wrong as such as don't want him getting away with anything as feel he should have had his commupance by now but i don't kow how it works..he also didn't turn up to his last court date so not sure what happens then? guess i go home!

Janepig

There should be plenty of help there for you on the day, Witness Support are very good and you'll get an opportunity to digest your statement, just try to stay calm - is it Magistrates Court or Crown Court? And don't forget, your neighbour might even decide to plead guilty on the day - alot of defendants do that when they realise that the witnesses have turned up to give evidence, they often hope they won't and the case will be thrown out.

If you are answering questions about the evidence in your statement and you can't recall something, I wouldn't mention other incidents as all that will happen is you'll be told to concentrate on the offence before the Court. They're not there to judge whether this has happened other times, they're there for the occasion you gave evidence about.

My mum gave evidence in Crown Court once after being burgled - the same guy broke in on the Friday and the Sunday, but they only did him for the Sunday. As such, no mention could be made of the Friday, which caused my mother some difficulty giving evidence as she'd been fingerprinted (to rule her prints out) after the Friday incident and when they were asking her if she'd been fingerprinted on the Sunday she couldn't say yes, but also couldn't say that she'd been fingerprinted on the Friday as she wasn't allowed to mention it!!

Anyway, good luck, it's not as bad as all that.

Jxx

copier_guy

Hi Gaby

I did two weeks of jury service in feb. I can honestly say everyone was nervous.

The jury was and even the police officer who gave evidence was. The judge was super cool to all the witnesses giving them time to answer and making sure they were ok.

hope it goes ok for you

DaisyNelson

Ring Witness Support for that court. If they can, they will arrange for you to see the court before going in and will talk you through the process.
Be prepared for a wait on the day. Always found Witness Support to be very helpful.

oompahloompah

Not sure if the system is the same in England as in Scotland, but I was a witness in court (Scotland) recently and was VERY nervous! However we weren't allowed to see our statements beforehand, which was very worrying as the incident was 7 years previously - the court date kept being adjourned for some reason.
Your sister will be able to sit in the public gallery of the court but she won't be allowed to be with you, either in the courtroom or in the witness room.
The way it works here is that all the witnesses are asked to report at a time (e.g. 10am Monday), the register is taken then they are asked to wait in the witness room until they are called. It can be quite a time consuming process - I wasn't actually taken til the Thursday afternoon (from the Monday morning) and some of the witnesses were still waiting after me, so I would assume they would have come back into the following week.
Once you have given your evidence you are not allowed to go back into the witness room, and cannot discuss the trial with anyone (e.g. during a cigarette break) at any time.
The Witness Support service is very good, you should give them a call and they will tell you what is standard practice for that particular court.

gabyjane

Thanks for the replys guys..im nervous just reading this not good at stuff like this at all..saw my neighbour earlier as he has been before r.e the same man and said he got off..im wondering what the point of me going through it all is?
Roughly what happens when i have given the evidence..can i go hom or do i wait for the outcome?? god im going to worry about this for weeks now..

gabyjane

Thanks..im nervous of the room, the judge, the police being there etc not him as such..i just hate being watched ..being stood up infront of people fills me with dread tbh..i will have to do it though so deep breathes! will ring the support people on monday..thanks again

Pssst

Can anyone sit in the public gallery ? Would there be any issues if a member of the public who entered the public gallery was known to either the judge,a barrister,other official present in the court or known to a juror?