Legal Advice

Harvestmuppet

Hi, is there anyone that might be able to answer a question about a legal case or know of anywhere that might please?
It's a hard one. 
30 years ago I was a victim. The person who inflicted the crime also did the same to another person. The other person pressed charges. At the time, it was not something I could face doing and I was a minor. The police visited and they were told this. They asked if the crime against myself could be taken into consideration, and were told they could 
Fast forward 30 years. I want to press charges in my own right as feel it will help me. Am told by the police that I can't due to being taken into consideration. They are double checking on it and getting back to me, but said that basically the case 
I am very upset. I was a minor at the time and haven't had a chance to decide for myself if I wanted to press charges or have my case heard in its own right. Seems unfair  Thank you for any possible help.

Jude57

Harvestmuppet said:

Hi, is there anyone that might be able to answer a question about a legal case or know of anywhere that might please?
It's a hard one. 
30 years ago I was a victim. The person who inflicted the crime also did the same to another person. The other person pressed charges. At the time, it was not something I could face doing and I was a minor. The police visited and they were told this. They asked if the crime against myself could be taken into consideration, and were told they could 
Fast forward 30 years. I want to press charges in my own right as feel it will help me. Am told by the police that I can't due to being taken into consideration. They are double checking on it and getting back to me, but said that basically the case 
I am very upset. I was a minor at the time and haven't had a chance to decide for myself if I wanted to press charges or have my case heard in its own right. Seems unfair  Thank you for any possible help.

If you are in England or Wales, it's not your decision whether to press charges. Charging decisions are made by the Crown Prosecution Service, and they have to be satisfied that the evidence against the individual is more likely than not going to result in a conviction. This means that the CPS need to be pretty certain they can win the case before they will spend very large sums of public money prosecuting someone.

From what you say, it sounds as though there was convincing evidence against the individual for a similar offence against another person to the one you were subjected to. It seems that the individual pleaded guilty to that offence against the other person and asked for additional offences to be taken into account. That meant they admitted those offences, too, but would not be tried for each separate offence. This is quite common in criminal cases and has several benefits. It clears a number of crimes from Police outstanding crime figures; it means victims don't have to go through the stress of a trial (or possibly several trials); it saves valuable court time and, from the offender's point of view, an early admission of guilt can reduce the sentence imposed.

Unfortunately, from what you've said, it's very unlikely that a further prosecution will be possible. The offender has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced for the crime and, after 30 years, has presumably completed that sentence. As far as criminal prosecution goes, there's no way to have a further prosecution. It would be unfair to the offender because they have already admitted and been punished for the crime.

I know it seems unfair to you, but as you were a minor at the time, your parents or guardians had the legal right to make the decision on your behalf, and presumably did so with your best interests in mind. A criminal trial is a frightening thing for any witness, and 30 years ago, very little allowance was made for child witnesses. If you think about the way your parents or guardians would have seen it, as saving you from a frightening and traumatic ordeal, perhaps you can understand how they made the decision they did. 

You could, of course, take out a private prosecution for financial compensation but that would be enormously expensive and unless the individual is wealthy, even if you won, you might never receive any money. Legal Aid is very unlikely to be available for such a case. Don't consider a 'no win, no fee' solicitor unless you fully understand what you are signing up for. If, at some point, you decided not to go ahead, you would be liable for their costs, so be very careful. And please, don't underestimate the stress pursuing such a case would bring you. It would go on for many months, likely for years, and probably wouldn't bring you the resolution you need.

It seems to me that you have (entirely understandable) unresolved feelings about what happened to you and how it was dealt with by the adults around you at the time. It would, perhaps, be wise to seek counselling to help you come to terms with the situation and to deal with the feelings you're currently struggling with.

I hope the police officers dealing with your recent query are being helpful, but you could also contact Victim Support:

https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/

I hope this has helped in some way. 

elsien

@Jude57, think your third paragraph meant to say unlikely, not likely? 

Jude57

elsien said:

@Jude57, think your third paragraph meant to say unlikely, not likely? 

Thank you, Elsien, I've edited it to correctly say 'unlikely'. Much obliged. 

sheramber

Are you likelt to be able to sue after 30 years? Is there not a limit on the time during which you can claim?

GrumpyDil

sheramber said:

Are you likelt to be able to sue after 30 years? Is there not a limit on the time during which you can claim?

Sue for what? OP's question is about a prosecution. 

sheramber

GrumpyDil said:

sheramber said:

Are you likelt to be able to sue after 30 years? Is there not a limit on the time during which you can claim?

Sue for what? OP's question is about a prosecution. 

Jude57 suggested   You could, of course, take out a private prosecution for financial compensation.

Hence my question

Harvestmuppet

Thank you all.
I think it is very unlikely I'll be able to do anything. There is no question of the offenders guilt, as I have a child that I became pregnant with at 14. I think it's a shame it was 'taken into consideration' and will be deemed to have been 'dealt with'. Especially so as the offender received community service & a £30 fine. Nothing but an insult. 

lincroft1710

Harvestmuppet said:

Thank you all.
I think it is very unlikely I'll be able to do anything. There is no question of the offenders guilt, as I have a child that I became pregnant with at 14. I think it's a shame it was 'taken into consideration' and will be deemed to have been 'dealt with'. Especially so as the offender received community service & a £30 fine. Nothing but an insult. 

The levity of the sentence is surprising but it may be that the offence was regarded as less serious 30 yrs ago than it would be in the 2020s and the age of the offender may have had some bearing.


But as you now accept, there is nothing you can do and I'm not sure that 30 yrs ago your parents could have asked for the sentence to be reviewed if there were unhappy with it.

TBagpuss

Harvestmuppet said:

Thank you all.
I think it is very unlikely I'll be able to do anything. There is no question of the offenders guilt, as I have a child that I became pregnant with at 14. I think it's a shame it was 'taken into consideration' and will be deemed to have been 'dealt with'. Especially so as the offender received community service & a £30 fine. Nothing but an insult. 

Unfortunately even if it hadn't been taken into consideration, if he were to be prosecuted now the court would have to sentance him based on the sentancing rules in effect at the time of the offence, and would also have to take into acount if he was a minoror a juvenile himself at the time of the offence 

Although the sentence seems ludicrously light to us, if the offence against you was taken ito account the sentance would have been on the basis of both offences.

As far as aiam aware, you would sadly also be too late to be able t pursue any fincail claim - criminal injuries claims have to be brought within 2 years of the offence being reported or, if it happened when you were under 18, within 2 years of you turning 18, and if you sought to sue him directly then I think the limit would be 3 years from the date of th incident or from when you turned 18.

The only possibility I can thnk of would be if there was more than one incident when he abused you, if you did not report al of them at the time (or whh you were asked about them) however, the police would still have to consider whather they had a reasonable prospect of getting a conviction (which might be difficult, as if he already had one incident taken into consideration,the birth of your child would not prve that there had been others as well) , and they would also have to decide whether it was in the public interest to pursue a further convitin, which again, might be questionable given that he was already convicted once. 

I'm very sorry that it isn't the outcome you want 

DE_612183

I would have thought you should also take into account the effect any action you take will have on your child - who I presume is now 30? Not sure how much they know about this - or are likely to find out...