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missed pre sentence report meeting! please help!

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JK2001 | 22:03 Mon 28th Jun 2010 | Criminal
10 Answers
I recently was arrested for section 47 (gbh) and went to court (07/06/2010) and it was ajourned for 3 weeks (29/06/2010) for a pre sentencing report to be done and was bailed.....i have a job where i can choose to work away when i want and decided to work away for the 3 weeks as the person i hit lives not too far from me......iv just got back tonight and have recieved a letter from the probabtion trust saying that they want to meet with me to discuss the report on the 14th june 2010, obviously now i have missed the apt........what will happen to me now??? im really worried i have court in the morning!!!


a few years ago i got a 18 month suspended sentence for battery on the same person, will i go to prison??? im really worried, as i have a good job and 2 children.......what should i do????? please help!
many thanks
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please someone HELP! many thanks
you have court tomorrow morning? well, I'd suggest you turn up at least an hour early and try to see probation. you need to apologise, give your reasons for missing the appt, and pray for some leniency.

honestly, if you were hoping for a non-custodial sentence, you've not exactly proven yourself to be reliable for other options that may have been available.
What is it about this chap that has forced you to assault him twice?
a few years ago i got a 18 month suspended sentence for battery on the same person,

Why do you keep on attacking this person?
Is this person you've hit a woman?
Well, if you're up for a Section 47 offence, I'm assuming you've got a solicitor. If you haven't, you're very foolish indeed.

So, your solicitor will have also been aware of the pre-sentencing report meeting. And you couldn't possibly have been so foolish as to disappear for three weeks with all this hanging over you without providing your solicitor with some means of contacting you.

So, IMO, this doesn't add up...


> battery on the same person, will i go to prison???

In all probability, yes...
(2-part post):

You can't have been arrested for (and convicted of) "section 47 (GBH)", since there's no such offence.

'Section 47' is 'ABH'. If the charge was 'GBH' it would have been under 'Section 20' (or 'Section 18' if it was 'with intent'). So we don't know which offence you're being sentenced for. Further you've not told us whether the matter is being dealt with 'summarily' (in a magistrates court) or 'on indictment' (in a Crown court). That makes it hard to decide whether a custodial sentence is likely or not.

The pre-sentencing meeting was your chance to 'sell yourself' to the probation service. e.g. you could have told them how much you regretted the offence, how you were determined to get to grips with your alcohol problems (if relevant) and how much you'd welcome the chance to attend an 'aggression control' course. You've blown your chance to do all that and the court is likely to view your non-attendance at the meeting as akin to 'sticking two fingers up' at the court and the probation service. It's certainly not going to help your case.
As Sara3 suggests, get to the court early and try to speak to a representative of the probation service (or get your solicitor or barrister to do so). If you're lucky (and you'll need to be!) the court MIGHT agree to delay sentencing until after another attempt at getting a pre-sentencing report. However it's far more likely that the court will simply sentence you there and then.

Guideline sentences for Section 47 (ABH) are on page 17 of this document:
http://www.sentencing...inst-the%20person.pdf
(See page 15 if it was actually Section 20, GBH, which you were charged with).
However those sentences refer to a first-time offender convicted after a trial. Your previous conviction will push the sentencing range higher but the sentence will be reduced if you pleaded guilty. Since we don't know whether the offence was pre-meditated, whether it involved the use of a weapon, or the extent of the victim's injuries, I'm not going to hazard a guess at a specific sentence but custody is certainly a distinct possibility.

Chris
Question Author
hi thanks for the replys
i went to (magistrates) court today and it has now been ajourned for the pre sentence report to be done. i now have court on 20th july 2010.
the attack was not pre meditated i punched the person in the face causing them a swollen lip as the had hit me. i am so scared that i am going to go to prison. i am not a bad guy i just made a stupid drunken mistake and regret my actions deeply.

and yes sorry it is ABH not GBH
Question Author
just thought id add that i pleaded guilty from day 1 (when i was arrested and interviewed by the police)

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