person is lying - what will happen to me

[yummychocho]

Hi all

I will keep details vague/brief as it is identifying. I have a trial coming up in a few months time where I am the defendant. The 'victim' has been harassing me for a long time (this is logged with the police, police have been utterly useless to act).

The reason for the trial is this. One day, the 'victim' intentionally caused a scene that was filmed without my knowledge, it was like entrapment. Long story cut short, I had to defend myself and now the 'victim' is claiming it was a hate crime! It was not a hate crime - they had edited the video footage cutting out everything they had done to me and twisted/lied what had happened. I have read their police statement and to back up the so called hate crime, they made a lot of allegations against me which are not true!

Will the jury/judge believe the 'victims' lying sob story when there is no proof? The 'victim' has come up with this story to hide the fact they have been harassing me. This 'victim' has made my life hell and I cannot believe it has gotten this far. I have had zero support from the council and police dealing with their behaviour prior to this incident. I am so worried and is giving me sleepless nights. I have no experience of trials and I am scared the prosecutor will rip me apart when questioned :(

It is very easy to tell if video footage has been edited. Just ask for an expert statement on the evidence

I'm sorry but no one can answer this for you. We are not on the jury or hearing or seeing the evidence.

What does your solicitor think?

OP you need a solicitor. You should already know what the specific charges are and also been offered a solicitor.
If you have been charged with GBH or ABH or common assault then you absolutely should get legal advice. But I assume if you have seen their witness statement and video evidence then you have been served their evidence and trial is imminent.
You should have legal representation because there is no-one in the world who can predict an outcome or comfort you better than a legally qualified person.

The video is in three parts lasting about 20 seconds each, the whole incident was about 10 mins, so clearly edited.

I did not use violence, I am being done for abusive language despite the 'victim' threatening/abusive behaviour towards me which triggered my reaction. The solicitor said to plead not guilty due to the dodgy evidence but she is very busy at the moment and has not focused on my case too much as the trial is a while away.

As "the accused" you should be liable for legal aid. A solicitor will know what to ask the police for, (and the council) including a record of the complaint you made to them and yes as a PP said it can be determined whether a video has been edited.
Also , trying to set your mind at rest a bit, if your solicitor is really busy that's a positive sign that they are good enough to be in demand. If they have advised you to plead not guilty, follow their advice. In any criminal case the burden of proof has to be beyond reasonable doubt. Any evidence tampering /editing will mean the prosecution fing it difficult to reach that level

In addition- you can do a subject access request to the police and get copies of all the complaints etc that you made.

Thank you for your comments, they do give me hope. I appreciate no one will know what will happen apart from the solicitor etc. I am so angry and upset at the injustice of it all. I do hope that my police and council logs will count for something and builds a bigger picture of what is happening.

My biggest fear is that the police were prejudiced against me in the handling of the situation (solicitor agrees) therefore the judge and jury will also be prejudiced. Another fear is after this trial their antics will start again and I will be back at square one where no one will help.

Have you been appointed a Barrister yet, they and your solicitor need to see the video and the phone seized for them to look through.

@BlanketsBanned I don't think I have a barrister, well it has not been mentioned so far. Unlikely their phone will be seized as the police has already asked for the full footage and they said they did not have it anymore.

Depending on how the video was made/ stored it should still be recovered. It's how they catch people with child sex abuse imagery even though it's been deleted.

Such a shame no-one advised you before this to get an injunction against the person.

Have you got any witnesses to the harassment you recieved. Do you know why this person has been harassing you. The police and council will have logs of when you called them and probably will have recorded these if you phoned in the complaints
Your solicitor will collect all this evidence and the barrister will give your side to the court. The prosecution will question you vigorously but that is their job. Sorry I cannot give advice on the outcome as that is down to the jury to decide who is telling the truth. Good luck op

Your solicitor needs to pursue the video. It can hopefully be recovered. If not can they ask for the evidence to be excluded?

I will definitely ask my solicitor these questions, thank you :)

We used to get on then all of a sudden they turned on me. I tried to keep things amicable and resolve the issues but they did not want to know and their behaviour got worse. I honestly do not know what I had done wrong - in life if I did do something wrong I would admit it and try to make things right. I have gone over and over in my head why they are doing this and I can only conclude they lead sad pathetic lives and have nothing better going on.

Only witness is my friend who lives with me and can verify everything that happened on the day. The 'victim' has no witnesses.