Urgent please help - court date in 3 days

[sunbeams74]

I can't give specific details of the case as it would be really identifying, but I just need an answer to a legal question that I can't find anywhere.

I think the police may have messed up and didn't arrest or charge the perpetrator for an additional offence (criminal damage) which I believe he should have been arrested and charged with. I did ask about this at the time, but police said it wasn't applicable. The perp has been charged with a driving related offence and is due in court next week. I have since read about another similar case in the news where the driver was also charged with criminal damage for the exact same type of criminal damage as my case.

Can I do anything before the court date? Can an additional charge be brought now or is it too late? I don't have a solicitor and I'm not seen as a victim under the law due to the circumstances of the incident, although I now believe that I should have been as I think the perp should have been arrested for criminal damage too. Police don't have to update me because I'm not seen as a victim, but I've made complaints to get updates.

Sorry, all quite vague but the question is what happens if police didn't arrest/charge someone at the time but should have done? Also this isn't about me wanting any compensation, it's literally just about justice. Incident happened just over 3 months ago.

It will be too late to do anything about it before a hearing next week. However, if he hasn't been charged with criminal damage, it is still open to the police to charge him with that, although they are running out of time to do so.

Remember that what matters in a criminal damage case is not the type of damage but the intent of the defendant. To get a conviction, the prosecution must show that they intended to damage the property or were reckless as to whether their actions would damage the property. So, for example, a driver who deliberately drives a car into the side of a house, partly demolishing the building, would be guilty of criminal damage. However, if a driver is a little over the speed limit and something causes them to hit the side of a house, partly demolishing the building, that is not criminal damage.

Thank you so much for replying. The driver claimed he had a medical episode which caused him to pass out at the wheel, but he was then found to have been drug driving (3x over the limit).
Would that come under the definition of reckless for criminal damage?

On its own, no. If they took drugs and then drove recklessly, that might justify a charge of criminal damage. But causing damage whilst drunk or under the influence of drugs is generally not criminal damage.

The decision on what offences to charge the defendant with will have been taken by the CPS after the defendant was interviewed by the police and after the police presented all their evidence to them. The CPS would only allow the police to charge with the offence if they believed there was a reasonable chance of conviction - clearly in this case they did not believe this to be the case and pressure from a witness/complainant is unlikely to persuade them to change their mind on this particularly at this late stage in proceedings.