wanting to take someone to court rather than them just receiving a caution

[queenmab_roo]

just wondering if anyone knew anything about basically what i put in the title.

my best mate at uni got beaten up by her ex the other day, quite badly- she was knocked unconscious, had a few fingernails ripped off, a few other things- and luckily she went to the police about it. After a couple of days "on the run" the ex handed himself in to the police, and the police after talking to him said that he'd probably just receive an adult caution.

now my mate, and her father who is luckily in the country, are not happy with this and want to go to court with it. she feels he's ruined her life and doesn't want to let him get away with that- she's in her final year of uni and is in fact now leaving to take a year out so she is having to make drastic changes.

my main question is what is the likelihood of this getting to court if the police consider only a caution necessary? I'd like to know so that I know how to support my friend.

Another question that i've just come across is that the university have said that this is also a disciplinary matter for them. I've googled the disciplinary procedures for the uni, although they come up with procedures relating to staff disciplinary, not student. Am i right in thinking though that this could result in him being chucked out of uni?

any help that you guys can give would be appreciated :)

[piccolo]

I can only answer this from the student perspective but when I had (student) anti-harassment training I was told that harassing another student in any way could lead to being chucked out of uni so I'd damn well hope that he'd be asked to leave.

Good luck.

[queenmab_roo]

Thanks

unfortunately as it's his word against hers (and the witness who according to my friend was next door throughout the whole thing not really saying much in her statement to the police) he has got off without even the caution. Obviously I understand that people often get things wrong or lie when under this amount of pressure, but she's not the sort of person to make something like this up and be so destroyed after it. Whether circumstances caused it or whatever, it still seems so unfair that she is destroyed and he not. [/rant].

[piccolo]

I hope the College will take her word then. If you need any help with disciplinaries and things go to your SU advice centre and the Union Officers. Failing that, you can always PM me and I'll try to offer some advice if I can.

[queenmab_roo]

thanks, i'll keep this in mind.

[Kermit]

The police and CPS should be taking domestic violence issues to court, I would be tempted to ask the police why they have refused to do so. The guidance was changed in 2003 to make them do so unless there was a bloody good reason.

I've come across cases where the victim has refused to even give a witness statement against her husband and he's still ended up in court. The police sound lazy to me.

[Whowhere]

If he's ripped a few fingernails off and caused other injuries then this is an ABH and possibly a GBH. The police should at least be charging a GBH, then let the CPS or courts downgrade it.
If they don't then you should consider civil court and sue him.

[queenmab_roo]

If he's ripped a few fingernails off and caused other injuries then this is an ABH and possibly a GBH. The police should at least be charging a GBH, then let the CPS or courts downgrade it.
If they don't then you should consider civil court and sue him.

Well from what i could gather when she was in a state on the phone to me last night, one of the main reasons for not taking it further is that there is no evidence that he locked the door, and the other is that there are discrepancies in the statement ie the witness next door said that the timescale was different to what my friend said. I think he also claimed that he was acting in self defence.

Obviously there are many things which are difficult to prove, but reading the rape thread in politics yesterday just made me think of this, the system is terrible..