In a trial taking place over 4 days before HHJ Woolfall at Great Grimsby Crown Court, Michael successfully defended a man against a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The Defendant had intervened when the Complainant, who accepted he was 7/10 drunk at the time, was being verbally abusive and aggressive to the sister of his ex girlfriend who happened to be a neighbour of the Defendant.
The court heard from the woman that the Complainant was aggressively shouting insults at her for 10 minutes and that when the Defendant intervened, (which he said in interview was out of concern for her welfare and that of a mature couple next door), the complainant initiated a physical altercation, knocking the Defendant to the floor.
The Defendant accepted he had been involved in the fight but the central question for the jury was whether the Defendant inflicted the stab wound later sustained by the Complainant, in circumstances where the woman he was shouting at alleged she had seen the Defendant produce a knife and then put it back in his pocket at an earlier stage in the incident. Crucially neither the woman nor the Complainant himself saw the stabbing occur, the complainant being unaware that he had been stabbed at all until he was informed by other bystanders.
Michael successfully cross examined 3 prosecution Witnesses on the evidence and was able to draw the jury’s attention to significant moments as well as inconsistencies and gaps in the evidence, leading ultimately to the Defendant’s acquittal on Christmas Eve, just in time for Christmas.