Case Study
Withdrawal Of Six Common Assault Charges
Case Overview
Court: Ballarat Magistrates’ Court
Outcome: Withdrawl Of Charges.
Aston Legal recently acted for a client who was facing six charges of common assault arising from incidents that allegedly occurred between August and November 2025.
The complainant made a number of allegations with the prosecution’s case containing various forms of evidence such as audio recordings, photographs, videos, and an emergency services call.
The brief of evidence was reviewed in depth by our team who identified a number of evidentiary and chronological discrepancies. The supplementary statement from the complainant revised the dates of some of the alleged incidents from those initially provided to police. Our review found that some of the allegations had limited or disputed corroborating evidence.
As part of preparing for the possibility of trial, Aston Legal undertook a meticulous review of the evidence and identified material that directly disputed aspects of the allegations. This included the client’s employment records and statements from their parents.
Our team then made representations to the prosecution seeking the withdrawal of all six charges. The representations addressed the evidentiary issues identified in relation to each individual charge.
Initially the prosecution indicated that they wanted to proceed with the charges however, they proposed resolving the matter by proceeding with a single charge on a plea of guilty.
Identifying Weaknesses in the Prosecution Case
Aston Legal did not accept the proposed resolution and rather undertook a charge-by-charge assessment of the available evidence. Our team identified specific evidentiary issues for each of the six allegations which were set out in detail in correspondence to the prosecution. Aston Legal sought withdrawal of all six charges.
Our team identified discrepancies such as:
- A lack of medical records or other corroborating evidence along with a statement from the client’s parents directly disputing the incident details.
- Employment records showing that the client had been in paid employment when the alleged incident took place.
- A lack of audio evidence that directly supported the complainant’s claims.
- Video material did not depict the alleged assault or any harm consistent with the allegations.
Successful Withdrawal of All Six Charges
Following the representations made on the client’s behalf, Victoria Police reconsidered the matter.
The investigating officer subsequently confirmed that, following a review of the matter, there would be a withdrawal of all six charges.