private investigation

[zeocrash]

OK my mate got started on the other week and beat the fuck out of some townie. now the guy is pressing charges for ABH (actual bodily harm).
anyway i was wondering, supposing he wanted to get someone to go poke around and check out all the statements, to find weaknesses in the story, what are the UK laws on this. do you have to have a PI licence or similar, or would a representitive om my mate be perfectly entitled to go enquire about the statements.
does anyone know any usefull advice for this kind of work, or any loopholes my mate could exploit to get off this charge.
By the way this is UK law i'm enquiring about

[Arkangel]

1. Make sure your mate has a good lawyer. He's entitled to free legal representation and he should make the most of it.

2. The solicitor should be able to make background checks into whether the townie has any previous form. It would be ideal if he had a conviction for assault or affray or something.

3. The solicitor will also be able to see all the prosecuton evidence - statements and the like, and once he has those he will be best placed to pick holes in the story

It doesn't sound like your mate has got a lawyer yet, and he MUST get one. He should ask around the court service, or legal firms in your area to see who has a good reputation, it makes a BIG difference who you go to.

I have some recent experience in this sort of thing, so if you want any advice, drop me a line etc ;)

Other than the above points, someone may be able to add something about PI or online snooping stuff. Didn't someone find out a load of interesting stuff online about the guy who was pinching roguesci stuff? How did THAT work?

Good luck to your pal, anyway.

[John Ashcroft]

I don't know about the UK, but in the US, one is not allowed to discuss the defendent's previous legal history before the jury.

[knowledgehungry]

It might be admissable if there was a question of who instigated it, I'm not sure however. Actually I believe you are allowed to bring in witnesses previous criminal history before a jury, just not the defendants.

[Arkangel]

We're not talking about the defendant's record here, we're talking about the person pressing the charges. If he has a record it would help, assuming your friend is of impeccable character.

[zeocrash]

my friend is of almost impeccable character, 1 written caution and some minor driving offences, but his previous convictions wont be consdered anyway as far as i'm aware.
From what i've hear there's a good deal of inconsistency in the witness statements, which a god lawyer should be able to work with.
to his disadvantage though, when he was arrested, he did not sit tight and wait for his lawyer, he told them his version of event so he could get out of there as quickly as possible.