Newbie to forum... Neverending wait for bail date!

[Casehardened]

[Peter has been a PAFAA member for well over a year and so I am really pleased to be able to welcome him to this forum ]

[YearsOfHell]

Hello Justanotherday ,

Sorry to read your story but you seem to be in good hands with your legal team.

Your first Crown court date will be for a Plea and trial preparation hearing (PTPH) and for the defendant it is as much a formality as the mode of trial hearing at the magistrates.

Based on my own experiences;

You will stand in the dock, confirm your name and plead not guilty to each of the charges. You then sit down and the barristers and judge will timetable the trial which involves discussing evidence, number of witnesses and when each side will have their case ready for trial. The judge will decide on how long the trial should be depending on how complicated it is, set a date for the trial and also dates for disclosure of evidence. You can ask the dock officer for a hearing loop if you find it difficult to listen to what the lawyers are saying.

I was rebailed on the same conditions of my original police bail and then I was free to go. It didn't take too long at all. This was the first time I got to talk to my barrister so my advice is to go armed with questions and any evidence, timelines you may have collected or things you have thought of.

It's also a good opportunity to scout out the court building and find out if there is a canteen etc or if nipping off for lunch is feasible during the trial itself. (Lunch is generally an hour but may be longer if the judge wants to fit in a quick plea before resuming) ... If there are only vending machines you will want to take change and also change for the car park.

I hope this puts your mind at rest and allows you to focus on your defence.

Peter (NOT GUILTY!)

Welcome Peter!
Excellent and truly helpful post!
Thanks for posting.
YoH

[Peter1975]

Thanks CH and YOH, Nice to "see" you again. I've been meaning to sign up here for a while but this was the first time I could post something useful. PAFAA saved my life and my sanity at a time when I thought I was alone. Sadly, there are too many of us.

[Franticwithworry]

Welcome, Peter. I see you on PAFAA but tend to preserve my anonymity by browsing much less than posting. I'm more active here until my man's case(s) are resolved.

It's very good to see you here and thank you for joining. I know you have lots if useful knowledge to pass on and support to give.

[justanotherday]

again, thank you all for your comments, Peter that is very helpful, thank you for taking the time to post.

Our trial is 300 miles away and our Barrister is local to there so she actually attended our magistrates hearing with hubby which was useful as we had a good chat and she has come up against both the OIC and prosecutors team a few times before.

What is the PAFAA may I ask?

Sqounk - the file is going straight to our solicitor but we will get a copy of statement to refer to whilst building case.

Does anyone know if the accuser also gets a copy of statements from witnesses etc? I only ask as Accuser is hubbys sister and the immediate family have given statements supporting him but she thinks they beleive her (their mum and dad are talking to her as she has an 11 year old that she has threatened to stop them seeing if they don't beleive her) and she will have a shock once she realises they are witnesses against her!

Silver - I have no idea how me and our 2 year old will cope but we have to, I have to be strong for my husband, I don't know how he will cope if he's convicted.
We are renting so in the process of moving to a cheaper house to start saving as much as possible.
I have a good 3 day a week job, Im a PA to the owner and he knows everything and is really supportive so I'm not worried about losing my job or having time off.

We had a good christmas with hubbys family staying with us for 4 days (against the wishes of the accuser who tried to stop them by threatening to call the police to say he was breaking bail - which he wasnt!) - like you watched Robbie NYE and relaxed. Although since 1st January it's like its now real and this is it, sink or swim!

xxxx

[Peter1975]

Pafaa is a support group that Rights Fighter runs, it offers better security than daftmoo but is sadly no longer used much as the yuku platform is unreliable. there is a facebook group that you can apply to join. just search for PAFAA and send a request.

You should get a copy of the CPS bundle and unfortunately, the statements in your oh's defence will be in it and available to the prosecution. Both sides work from the same initial papers and it is important that you check the police transcript of your OH's interview for any discrepancies. Your solicitor should check the transcript against the recording.

Listen carefully at the PTPH, your OH should be allowed a pen and notebook in the dock. Members of the public gallery are usually not without permission. It's often the case that prosecution will try to delay disclosing anything that can help the defence to give you less time to prepare. Your barrister will deal with this and clearly knows how the prosecution like to work so it sounds like you are in very good hands.

Try not to think too far ahead, it's good to be prepared for the worst but don't be resigned to it. You have a long way to go and a good chance of defeating the charges.

[Jan11]

Hi JAD - just wondering how you are going? How did your husband get on at PTPH?

My husband had PTPH last week, and he coped with it pretty well. I fell apart after seeing him in the court room, but I'm glad I went and know what to expect now. We met the barrister for the first time and he knew our case inside out. Trail is set for 7.5 months time.

[justanotherday]

Hi Jan11

Thanks for thinking of us

We had ours last week too, and the outcome was the same!! It's awful seeing them go through this without being able to do anything to stop it.

Hubby was so nervous and I was being sick from that morning but didn't let him know that!! Our barrister asked me not to go into the court as I may be called as a witness, we had met our barrister before as she came to Magistrates as its local to her and not the solicitor and she's great. She scares my husband and she's on his side!!

Our trial is 6 months :-( 300 miles away and its expected to run into a second week - it's a lot more complicated than we first thought.

trying to arrange accommodation for us at the moment which needs to be for our 2 year old and my mum - looking at self catering rather than hotel but costs are spiralling!

Police have not mentioned statements supporting hubby and we are yet to receive the prosecution statement - they have until the end of Feb to provide us with everything.

If I'm honest I'm terrified he will be convicted as there's so much more to this than we first thought - a 'friend' has come out of the woodwork saying the accuser disclosed to her years ago about the abuse.

sorry I've ranted abit here!!

I hope you and yours are coping ok and that you can tear holes in your accusers statement - the real work starts now ay! xxxxxx

[Franticwithworry]

Rant away, that's what we're here for.

As for 'friends' coming out of the woodwork with stories of disclosure years ago - try not to fret too much about that. What matters there is how the complainant has behaved since then towards the accused, and the 'friend' too, and a good solicitor will help you unravel all that.

There are plenty of people who suddenly 'remember' things that can be disproved or discounted on closer examination. Give the solicitor all the information you can about how those relationships have been over the years and let them work on it.

For example - a totally random scenario - if someone has been accused of child abuse from years ago and a friend suddenly remembers that they knew all about it at the time, but the friend has let the accused have unsupervised access to their own children, their credibility becomes questionable.

Yes, these things are very complicated but it's the legal teams job to unravel it all, and they should be used to 'complicated'.

[justanotherday]

Hi FWW

yes you are completely right about the legal teams being used to all sorts, I think because it's new to us everything seems such a big obstacle but like you say they know how to deal with these things. It's hard aswell as we haven't actually received the video of the accusers statement yet so hubby hasn't sat down with our solicitor to go through much at all as we haven't got it!! So still second guessing what she has said, apart from the very little detail given on the charge sheet.

Good point re people 'remembering'. Unfortunately these are people my hubby has never met but one of them said he makes her feel uncomfortable when he's never met her!!

I am a strong person and after the initial arrest haven't cried or stressed about it in front of hubby but at the moment everytime I see my mum or get 5 mins piece in the shower I ball my eyes out at the thought of him not being here!!! I know we've got a long way to go and we will certainly fight for our lives its just such a rollercoaster!!

Lets hope 2017 is the year of NG for us all xxx

[Franticwithworry]

It's good that he's never met them and they are saying these things. These kinds of comments are just not credible so try to think of them as a good thing in the grand scheme of things. I know how hard it is to keep everything together, but please remember that again, in the grand scheme of things, the more likely a false accusation is to get a correct verdict. People your husband has never met cannot legally comment on what he has done or said or how he makes them feel, so all this gossip is just that - gossip and hot air.

It's important to think positively and set great store by your husband's innocence. Correct verdicts are more likely than wrongful convictions and though you need to prepare thoroughly and be aware that the worst may happen, draw strength from the fact that with the right team, preparation and belief in the truth, common sense will prevail.

It's a horrible tightrope to walk, but walking it you are, and we are with you for the inevitable wobbles.

Also, please try not to fret when it comes to not knowing what's in her statement. Your imaginations can be very damaging to you, unnecessarily. When it came to it, we couldn't imagine what the accuser could have said, and I particularly spent a lot of time guessing, so we were stunned by the lies but also by the naivety, and it was the accuser's undoing. It was quite easy, in the end, to pull apart all that was there. Keep a handle on what you can change or influence on what you can't. The statement already exists and you can't change it. Treat it like a task and pull it apart when you see it, not before.

Like I said, we are here for you when you need a rant and there are lots of us thinking of you and your family and wishing you the best possible outcome.

[Jan11]

Hi FWW

yes you are completely right about the legal teams being used to all sorts, I think because it's new to us everything seems such a big obstacle but like you say they know how to deal with these things. It's hard aswell as we haven't actually received the video of the accusers statement yet so hubby hasn't sat down with our solicitor to go through much at all as we haven't got it!! So still second guessing what she has said, apart from the very little detail given on the charge sheet.

Good point re people 'remembering'. Unfortunately these are people my hubby has never met but one of them said he makes her feel uncomfortable when he's never met her!!

I am a strong person and after the initial arrest haven't cried or stressed about it in front of hubby but at the moment everytime I see my mum or get 5 mins piece in the shower I ball my eyes out at the thought of him not being here!!! I know we've got a long way to go and we will certainly fight for our lives its just such a rollercoaster!!

Lets hope 2017 is the year of NG for us all xxx

I completely agree about some things that are picked up on which seem like huge obstacles. I guess that's where we need to trust in the legal teams. FA and her cohorts have tried to assassinate OH's character completely (not in a sexual way) but barrister didn't seem to bat an eyelid at that. Apparently he has a plan for that.

With regards to the tears, let them out if you need to. It's important that you do that. As one lovely lady reminded me last week the things we are going through are traumatic and horrible. It would be worrying if seeing our loved ones in court didn't upset us! It sounds like you are doing really well getting organised. Keep up the good work.

[justanotherday]

Sorry Jan11 just seen your post.

thank you, you keep it up too :-)

our trial may be moved due to holiday the accuser has booked - this was made aware of at the hearing and the judge told her to move it but they are now kicking up a fuss. Why would you book a holiday in the summer knowing this is going on!

[justanotherday]

Long time no update...

Hi All
I haven't posted here for a while, when I joined I really wanted to help other people who are going through the same.motions but I just haven't been able to, so for that i really do apologise.

we've had a lot of paperwork to go through and many many early hours bedtime trying to get everuthing written down and in order, I think we are nearly there!

Trial is a couple of weeks and we are all starting to crack a bit under the pressure, I am a key witness as one of the allegations happened after a party i was at, although accuser has got dates completly wrong and not mentioned me at all. I feel half responsible for the outcome, whatever it may be!

Has anyone taken anything to calm nerves before attending court? Never taken anything before as usually don't suffer but I'm already not sleeping!

I hope everyone is well and is tearing holes in those false statements :-)

Xxx

[Staystrong1]

Hi justanotherday

Nice to hear from you on the forum but sorry to hear the pressure you must be under. I too could not post in the run up to trial as it was a very difficult time for me and OH. You sound as prepared as you can be, good that you have written everything down as a Timeline of events is imperative if you can disprove what the FA is saying. Keep as calm as you can but I know that's difficult in the run up to trial. I hope you have a good defence team as they will support you through the trial.

If you are having trouble with sleeping and anxiety please see your gp as they can prescribe you something which will help, I did and it helped massively. Sending you positivity and remember the trial,is the first opportunity that the truth will be heard and so far it's been one sided, just the false allegation so remain strong positive and hold your heads up. Stay strong x