To not want to be a witness in court?

[Cantbloodyrememberthenameonthread]

Second aibu in 24 hours. It’s all going on 🫠

I’ve had a letter through advising I’ve been called as a witness in October. Basically, last year I witnessed somebody be hit by a Tesco delivery van, the van drove off and the person is now sueing Tesco. I helped at the time, called the police, managed to get a pic of the (speeding off in panic) van to get a reg plate, gave first aid to the guy.

since then, I’ve provided written statements, over the phone statements, police statements, given more information than I can recall if I’m being honest. The details they’ve asked for are crazy. Now I’ve had a letter through basically saying they need me to be a witness in court or the case may fall through. I feel bad for the guy but is this just a bit much to ask? FWIW I’m self employed and a single parent. This is taking up much more of my time than I’d ever contemplated (I was just doing a natural human thing stopping to help someone). The guy has my phone number and has chased me if I’ve taken a while to respond to solicitors with my statement.

wwyd? AIBU to want to block everything to do with it?

You can’t opt out so you just have to get on with it. Ask the police for some support.

If you've been summonsed it's not optional

Have you received a summons? If so, you’re required by law to attend.

Even if you haven’t, and you “block everything”, they can just apply for a summons to ensure your attendance.

You should do it, morally. If you are in the same position one day, you'd be grateful if someone supported your side (plus there is a legal obligation to attend).

Put yourself in the shoes of the victim. You’d want witnesses to turn up to the trial wouldn’t you?

I thought if you'd received a summons you couldn't refuse.

In all honesty I'm not sure I could morally allow someone to get away with a hit and run on someone even if they were a stranger just because I could no longer be bothered to act as a witness. How would you feel if the roles were reversed?

I agree it's a hassle but could you really live with yourself if you didn't turn up? It's not the poor man's fault that the legal system works like it does.

Is this a criminal case or a civil case? Who’s asking you to attend? CPS/police/witness services or his solicitors/insurers?

It’s not a criminal case for a summons. He’s suing. It’s civil.

he wasn’t badly injured in all honesty he’d scraped his leg on the pavement and was obviously in shock. At the time he said he’d be putting a claim in and “owed me a pint”.

morally I get I should be it’ll be 18 months since the event by the time this court date rolls around. I just feel it’s really taking an unnecessary amount of effort from me

His solicitors

I’d have long dropped the case tbh. Wouldn’t be worth the hassle for the amount of time it’s gone on. It’s different if it’s criminal I guess.

i don’t know why they’re so desperate for me to be a witness when it’s a busy road with plenty of cctv

It is called justice. Where people who have been aggrieved can take others who caused it to task.
Our society is very dependant on its existence. And whilst it can interfere with day to day life if called, it is important.
Can you imagine if everyone decided being a witness was all too much trouble ?
Please go.

No one wants to give evidence, you just sometimes have to (as is the case here).

I personally would say to him ‘I’ll be where I need to be in October but I need a break from all this until then. I hope you understand.’

And then I’d block him.

Don’t be a dick. Be a witness

if it all falls through then all the time you’ve spent on it so far will be wasted

Yeah, just fuck it OP, and hope you never need someone to come and give witness for you at any time in the future.

I think it would be reasonable to ask for some recompense for time off if he wins though.

Why should he drop the case? Even if you don't feel like he was seriously injured, although you've no idea of the actual extent of his injuries. Surely you can't think it's acceptable for people to drive so recklessly they can go around hitting pedestrians and get away with it?

I'd hope you never find yourself in this situation as I suspect it's very easy to say you'd have dropped the case but in reality it would be quite a different story.

If you’ve been summoned by the court you can’t just refuse. It’s an arrestible offence not to appear.

Tbh I think you have a moral obligation here.

Speak to the police op. Because while yes you should be a witness whether a civil matter or not althoughi can understandhow you're pissed off. Its not acceptable for him to be chasing you up over it

It would be reasonable to ask him not to contact you directly, only through his solicitor

You can be summonsed to attend civil court proceedings. The party calling you as a witness will pay your travel expenses and loss of earnings

I'm with you, OP. If this were a serious case whereby somebody was murdered or suffered lasting deep trauma, you'd accept it and do your civic duty; but effectively, you're an innocent who is being pursued for money just like the alleged guilty party. I'm not saying he shouldn't be entitled to something, but it hardly sounds like he needs the cash to be able to rebuild his life.

Never mind 'owe you a pint' - is he planning on giving you a wedge of his compensation in return for all of your efforts in helping him claim, just the same as he will be paying his solicitors? We're not talking financial gain; just redress for your own considerable time that you didn't have spare to give to him.

Justice is justice; but in hindsight, I think most people in your position would wish that they'd just lied and said they didn't see anything, rather than be expected to give so very much of their own time to help a stranger benefit hugely from a short-lasting minor event.

He and his team harassing you and hurrying you along is outrageous - they do realise that you personally weren't in any way to blame, don't they?! To be frank, if they do it again, I would be upfront with them about how much this disruption has cost you and ask how much (amount or percentage of winnings) they're proposing to pay you in compensation. If the solicitors tell you that it's your basic duty to help justice be served, tell them you'll need a letter from them confirming that they are working pro bono with the same motivation, before you jump to their demands. I wouldn’t wait in for the postie...

No good deed goes unpunished.

I would feel the same as you but unfortunately, you have come this far its the decent thing to see it through. As the saying goes.. no good deed goes unpunished :-( And people wonder why so many people walk on by when things like that happen.

You can still be summonsed for a civil case.

You should not give details that you can't remember even if you are being pushed to do so. If you can't remember you say that. Don't make things up.