UKC

Can anyone tell me how a court summons for a Public Order offence would be delivered? I'm a potential witness fior the prosecution in an altercation between some neighbours.

Today I saw a copper making a fairly brief visit to the house of the accused; going in with a large envelope and coming out without it. Does that sound like the serving of a summons?

Also, would that include stuff like statements that may identify witnesses?

Many thanks.

In reply to TheTwig:

A summons to court would be delivered by post (even with today's privatised post office). The practice of being served a summons in person is an American one.

In reply to Ian65:
not entirely true - a copy complaint can be served by the polis.

On identifying the witnesses - maybe. depends what has been submitted as disclosable vs non disclosable.

If the prosecution have information that info must be disseminated to the defence. It should not include addresses and isn't always made available to the accused in sensitive cases.

This is North of the Border - It might be different in England/Wales but I wouldn't think it was miles out.

IT may be just a citation for something totally different (esp if he's a regular customer).

In reply to TheTwig:

The law is different in Scotland to the rest of the Uk, so it depends. I'm not aware of police delivering any court paperwork in England.

Many thanks for the input.

Could it be the case that if they had been notified by post, but had chosen to ignore it/not reply (do you need to reply??), then you get a personalised delivery?

Also, if someone has declined to undertake restorative justice, could they bottle it upon a court summons and then receive a lesser sentance by pleading guilty?

In reply to TheTwig:
http://antisocialbehaviour.org.uk/abc/index.php

My understanding is that you get a letter saying when your court date is, and failure to attend is then an arrest warrant.


Is is possible that the issue isn't a one off, and the police were issuing an abc rather than court papers?

In reply to TheTwig:

Yeah your must return the paperwork either way stating if you intend to plead guilty/not guilty (lesser offences).

It could be that the court has tasked the rozzers to go round to the door, for a variety of reasons - sometimes not even logical!

Dunno about restorative justice but you almost always receive a lesser sentence for pleading guilty at an early stage. Deals are always being done by fiscals and lawyers and if a fiscal doesn't have to take it to court then they won't (less work on their part).

In reply to Stevie989:

Pretty sure that the police don't do court stuff down here until it reaches the point where they arrest and deliver someone to the court cells.

In reply to marsbar:

Lucky Bastards.

In reply to TheTwig:

Refusing restorative justice won't look good in court.

Thanks for the info, chaps, most informative.

In reply to TheTwig:

Do you live near the Num Nums?

In reply to TheTwig:

if they get a summons and don't turn up then they get charged in absence. If the charge requires an arrest then the police would go and do that, anything else (such as a fine) would get posted and then followed up by the court bailiffs.

As a witness you should get letters keeping you updated, first of all saying "they've been charged and given a court date you are/aren't required as a witness" then later what the result is.

Well it appears that is what it was. Myself and at least one of the victims got our witness call-forwards the next day.
Sadly the day of judgement is not until mid-May.

In reply to TheTwig:

I wouldn't expect it to go ahead the the first time it's called. Unless it's likely to be a guilty plea expect either:

- countermanded before the date
- actually going to court hanging about for an age and the case not being called.

Either way a date in the future (again) will be set: