Fen’s client was charged after allegedly drunkenly assaulting the Complainant - a stranger – in an alleyway near a nightclub in the early hours of the morning after arguing with him and his friend over a taxi. The Complainant was hospitalised and left with serious injuries, including a broken jaw.
Defending at Worcester Crown Court sitting at Hereford, Fen advanced an argument of self-defence on behalf of his client, who accepted throwing a single punch which dropped the Complainant to the ground and left him unconscious.
During the three-day trial, Fen was able take what on the face of it appeared to be damning CCTV footage and use it to draw out significant inconsistencies in witness evidence and failures in the police investigation, as well as help the jury to assess that evidence and that people from whom it came.
Ultimately the jury accepted that Fen’s client acted in response to a threat that was either explicitly made or reasonably perceived and responded in a way that was reasonable in the circumstances.