Bit of legal advice

[WazzaVN]

So not sure if any of you guys are lawyers (which would be great) but I would appreciate some advice from even someone who is a bit more savy in that department.

So as the story goes and sorry it's a bit long...

A month or so ago me and my little brother were walking back from a concert. We were about 100 or so metres off Flinders st station. We were approached by two rats hanging out with a few girls and asked for a cigarette. We said no.

Pretty much unprovoked (I certainly don't recall any name Calling or abuse from my side) I was dragged to the ground from behind and had one of them smashing me in the head. I was Possible getting kicked by a few of the girls too. So really he's effort wasn't getting him too far so he decided to give up. I got straight up and ran after him. Lucky for him he was a fast little f****r.

Anyway I calmed down and went back to the scene and my little bro was gone. I noticed the little hooligans were sitting at the tram stop closest to Flinders st station. I told them I come in peace and just wanted to know where my brother was. They said he went off to the police at the station.

Now when I got to the station I found my little bro with one hell of a shiner on the side of his head. He had been sucker punched (king hit, coward punched) or whatever you want to call it from behind. He actually hit his head on the pavement too and was out for a split second. He was pointing to the tram stop which must have been no more than 50 metres away saying that's the guy that hit me. Neither of the police could car less and said they would write something down about it later.

Now I'm not proud of what happened next but being a protective older brother and very emotional that the transit police couldn't be bothered doing there job I walked down to the tram stop and told the guy right to his face this is for what you did to my brother and socked him one.

Now after that of course the police sprang into action. Me and this guy were on the ground in a bit of a tussle and next thing you know I'm getting pepper sprayed to the max. Lemme tell ya ladies and gents its not worth it that stuff burns like a c***.

So a few weeks later I receive a fine in the mail for about 650 dollars. Now I went back to the station because I wanted to get a copy of the running sheets written that night but they told me to piss off and go through the freedom of information website. Which costs money ffs.

Anyway I want to get the running sheet about my little bro going to the police for help after being king hit and also get the report for my incident. Just to show the fact that there was f*** all done about in between. I really believe in prevention rather than cure and while I will never try to justify my actions I believe it could have been avoided if the damn cops went over and dealt with these scumbags. We also have some photos of the damage to my brothers head and some medical reports because he was not in a good way the next day either.

Anyway that's the story and this is where the advice part comes in. I was considering contesting my fine but I have a few concerns. I will try writing away first explaining the situation but that has never worked for me in the past.

So if it comes to the magistrates court I would not know how to plead.

If I plead guilty and explain the situation and give the evidence I have still pleaded guilty and admitted to the crime and will probably still get stung with the fine right?

Or if I plead not guilty due to the situation leading up to the crime it still doesn't really change the fact that I did the crime anyway correct?

So I don't really see how I'm gonna win here.

So not sure how to go about this any advice will be gratefully taken on board.

 

[WazzaVN]

Oh and as far as the coward punch campaigns goes I will try and get into contact with anyone involved and let it be known that the Flinders street transit police could not care less about who gets hit.

To them a job that's more than a few metres away is a job too far I guess. Even if it's a potential life threatening situation.

 

[Calaber]

If you are going to fight this matter in court you dont need legal advice from the internet. You need proper legal advice from a solicitor.

If you can't afford one, contact your state's legal services to see if you are entitled to their services.

You might argue that the cost of the solicitor would be more than the fine but remember that you not only have a fine to pay. You also score a criminal record (if you don't already have one).

 

[ChRiDDa]

What was the fine for?

 

[Zehq]

What was the fine for?

Assault I'd assume. Whatever the charge is OP needs to see a lawyer and not ask the internet. If it doesn't come with any record (although I assume it would) it may be better financially for OP to take the fine on the chin.

Either way as usual the cops don't do much.

 

[markalan1two]

i would suggest that you see a lawyer (as when you hit the other guy you may have been suffering from concussion due to the beating you had just taken, and not in true control of your actions at that time) , and also to take down this post just in case

 

[greenacc]

The law is useless in a lot of cases but good on you for teaching that tool a lesson.
If you had cracked him one straight after he hit your brother you would have got off for sure as it would be considered protecting him. Don't know what they'll say about going after him 10 minutes later though, will probably be viewed differently.
I guess you don't know if that grub got charged too?

 

[ChRiDDa]

There’s no infringement for an assault related offence - it’ll either be drunk in a public place, behave in a riotous manner or disorderly conduct in a public place

There are defences to assault offences, however reapproaching someone a period of time later n socking them one isn’t one of them

 

[commodore665]

OK , as an ex Copper ,on the record it matters not that these goons threw the first punch , the fact is that rightly or wrongly you retaliated , I can understand you wanted to protect your brother , but you should have walked away , I would say you'd get charged with disorderly conduct and assault , if it's your first offence hopefully you'll get bollocking from the magistrate and released , over here in NZ you might have to spend a night in the cells , and given a pre-charge warning , after a rark up and a kick up the arse from the sergeant , which if it were on my patch possibly would have from my own boot .

 

[VT&VX]

Did you try Shine lawyers? Are you willing to go public for them. Do you have the appearance of a minority ethnic or fringe of society group? Are you covered in facial tatts or piercings? Is there any potential reason for discrimination against you by the transit cops? You want to highlight the lack of transparency, accountability, the lack of action of those transit cops who cbf'd getting off their seats to prevent this type of problem in the first place.

Where is the security cctv footage.

I wont suggest the transit cops should put themselves in danger if an incident seems to be over, but what if someone had internal injuries and died later and the cops didn't have any recorded info. The transit cops who were on duty need to lose their jobs, to set an example for other transit cops, who don't immediately investigate, photograph and document all incidents.

Get legal advice from a lawyer, go to centrelink and ask for free legal help. etc.