Appearing in court - terrible guilt

[DoDoRay]

I have name changed for this. I can't give the full details of this but in summary, I spotted a man assaulting a woman on public transport. It wasn't a bad assault but he was deliberating feeling her up and she was very upset. I knew this because this man had done this to me a few months earlier and on 2 occasions. I went to the police and reported it. The woman never came forward.

It went to trial. In the trial, the prosecution laywer (female) ripped me to shreds. I couldn't remember the exact time of the earlier assaults so I was deemed by her to be unreliable. He claimed he could never have been in that place at the time I said and his wife backed him up etc. etc.

You get the gist. I gave evidence for almost 3hours and was completely exhausted.

of course, the lawyer put enough reasonable doubt in the minds of the judge and jury and they acquitted him and I feel devastated.

This man works near me and I am bound to bump into him again. I am so upset. Going through the trial was like being assaulted all over again. My friends are trying to make me feel better by saying how brave I was to take him to court but I just feel like an idiot. If I could have remembered the times better or been a more convincing witness, maybe he would be off the streets now? There was another mistake I made in my statement which the lawyer just seized upon :(. I feel awful at the thought of him doing this again to me or any other women! I mean what happens if he sits next to my daughter or your daughter on public transport etc.

I am having counselling but I don't feel much better. Has anyone been through this and come out the other side?

sorry got logged out so just bumping

How horrible for you, and I agree with your friends that you were brave to testify. Please don't berate yourself for not being as convincing as you would have liked. The main witness (the woman involved) was not there, and it would always have been a difficult case to prove without her.

I also think what you courageously did is likely to make a difference. The man may be less likely to act in the same way in future, now he has been to court for the offence. He will know he'd have a more difficult time if caught again.

Thank you for doing this, and I hope you can find some peace.

Thanks garibaldi, I just can't get over the fact that if I had done a better job, we might have had a better chance of a conviction :(

I'm sorry you went through this but you did the right thing.

The very fact that it got to court tells me that the police and PPS found you to be very credible. I think you mean the defense lawyer ripped you to shreds, well that is her job and she is clearly very good at it if she made you seem unreliable at this late stage.

It is awful and I am sorry that this has happened. You were very brave and you were right to pursue this.

Sorry yes I meant defence lawyer. She was a QC - he pulled out all the stops, must have cost a fortune.

The problem was some of my statement, the timings weren't precise and that's what they seized on and I made an error which I only picked up just before I gave evidence. This is the first time I've been to court - I am kicking myself :(

DoDo you did your best. The only person responsible is him. For past and any future assaults.

You poor thing!

Hopefully, maybe just the experience of being taken to court might make this man re-assess his behaviour.

God what hateful bastards- man and lawyer. You poor thing. I would feel the same as you. you should never have been made to feel humiliated for doing the right thing

Thank you everyone x I do hope it puts a stop to it but part of me thinks it will just give him the ammo to do it again (as he got off this time).

I wish the reporting rates for these crimes was higher. I know I wasn't successful this time but it won't put me off reporting it again. If more people came forward, I think we'd end up with more convictions but I know how hard it is to report crimes like these

You did the right thing. While there was not a conviction you will have scared him a lot, cost him a lot of money paying for that defense and gave him several sleepless nights. If he applies for a job that requires an enhanced check this will come up and he'll have to explain it to potential future employers etc. Barristers are exceptionally good at tearing people apart. It's their job while you have never been in this situation before. You did the right thing and you did your best. Thank you for doing it.

I am a health professional and work in a large hospital.if we have to give evidence in court we are told by the legal department to keep our answers short, detailed, only answer what belongs to out area of expertise. This is often giving evidence when we are just an expert witness... And we sometimes "don't do it right" and our statement may be used in a way it was not intended... In a case as this where you are emotionally involved it must be extremely hard to "do it right". Don't beat yourself up, the judicial system is meant for lawyers, you did your best and were very brave.

Thanks. You are all making me feel better. I just wish I could have done more x

You've made him crap himself, cost money and put doubt in his wife's mind. Well done. He's not going to want to go near you, don't worry just practise a scornful look.

So sorry to hear what you experienced. But not surprised. Hold your head up high, you did a good thing.

You did enough. Either he will be scared off doing it again or more likely, will end up in court again for the same thing and your testimony will suddenly be relevant and quite possibly the nail in his coffin next time. It's on record. You made sure of it.