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I’m being investigated for assault in my final months of university

So, for context...in February I experienced an allergic reaction on a night out in my student union that resulted in me having a seizure in which I was bleeding from the nose and frothing at the mouth. The bouncer and medic that “helped” me that night made no attempt to ring an ambulance and had claimed to my friends that I was faking etc etc.(I went to hospital later and was fine) The following week I was there again, i was waiting for an Uber and I was speaking to a girl who wanted to get back into the venue to get her keys and I said they wouldn’t let her back in and explained what happened to me the week before and how terrible they can be. The bouncer who “helped” me the week before walked past me as I was explaining the situation and shouting “oooh so you’re the faker from last week”. Obviously I was extremely upset and so I was walking towards her asking her why she thought that was ok and I was trying to explain to her what actually happened to me. She then took this as aggression and proceeded to push me to the floor and handle me with less than reasonable force. Out of instinct I punched her and she then (which she had every right to, put me to the floor again). That night I complained to the manager and went to my university the next day to complain. I dropped the complaint after a while as I am in my final year and I just couldn’t be arsed with the drama and wanted to finish the year off. I am banned from the venue so I’ve made no attempt to go back. However, I have now been contacted TODAY (April 21st) that I need to go back to the city my university is in to undergo a voluntary police interview under caution for an allegation of assault from that night. I have a witness who is my friend that also provided evidence in the complaint to the uni and there is CCTV that exists, however what the manager says happens in the CCTV compared to what me and my friend remember is different in some stages.

What I want to know is whilst I have never denied I punched her. What is the likelihood I will receive a fine or worse. I have always admitted to punching her (in both complaints I had already made) but obviously the circumstances were mitigating as I was provoked emotionally while drunk. I’m scared this is going to hover over my head for the rest of my life and will make it extremely hard to get a job. This was completely out of character for me and I have no prior convictions, I also study criminology so I know what I did was wrong and technically is assault but she was the one to restrain me unlawfully first! I’m also confused why it’s taken her 2 almost 3 months to report it to the police and now think there’s a deeper meaning to it (maybe she did eventually get in trouble for her actions and now is trying to save her ass??)

Please help! I’ve not stopped crying and I’m so worried. What I did was wrong and I will face the punishment but I need some advice on the realistic outcomes. And also the impact this can have on my graduation this year! (Yes I will be legally represented by a state appointed solicitor at the interview)

Reply 1

Ghostlady

Its voluntary police interview. They are obviously wanting to get to know your side of events. If they had evidence of this on cctv, i would have thought that they would have gone further than a voluntary interview. She pushed you and you thought you was in a violent situation so you were retaliating back. If your on cctv hitting her, then it should be on cctv also her being violent to you first.
Depends on the push and how violent it is i suppose.
If she was just pushing you away from the club to shoo you away, then as a bouncer they have to use some kind of force to 'escort' you away from the club premises. But if she was downright out to get you, then cctv will see that.

Yeah the club was out of order thinking you was faking it, and yeah the bouncer was winding you up, and you should have walked away and called her names under the sun our of ear shot. But its done now. if its your first offence, you will likely get a caution if they thought you were the guilty party. Its over 2-3 months ago too before its reported, so theres no physical evidence now on that person.

Its a hard lesson to learn, but sometimes we have to step back, no matter how big a 'd**k' the other person is :smile: