Hi, I’d appreciate any tips.
My long-term abuser (not intimate relationship) goes on trial soon for a relatively minor offence against property with me as victim (came and smashed stuff) in the magistrate’s court. The evidence of the specific offence is all in place and there is an eye-witness.
At first the police gently dissuaded me from trying to put in evidence of the patterns of abuse over the years as it wasn’t relevant.
Shortly after Sarah Everard’s death, however, I was asked if I would support an application for a restraining order (said yes). It seems her death may have created a policy change locally. The investigating officer is a young woman and abuser is a serial complainant so he may be trying to hurt her career, etc (it’s what he does).
The problem is that the background evidence goes back over many years and individual bits and pieces have to be put together for it to make sense. And magistrate’s trials are only an hour or two long. And the prosecutor may only see the papers on the day.
What I need is a lawyer, ideally a prosecutor, to guide me. Does that sound right? I do already have various civil judgments against him which refer to sexist abuse and disobeying (civil) court directions. Is that the place to start?
I will feel much safer if we can get a restraining order. Though to be fair I already feel safer as the latest round of abuse kicked off with him making false allegations against me but now those have been dropped and it is abuser who will be tried.
In terms of my clarity of mind, I have been engaging with Freedom Programme, etc, which has been very liberating and helpful
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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
Police now onside, trial of abuser coming, but how to present complex evidence to them
12 replies
Heleavesreviews · 09/05/2021 11:06
OP posts:
Liliolla ·
09/05/2021 13:03
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