Justin Ko secures acquittal following trial in domestic assault case
Justin Ko represented a defendant who was acquitted of assault by beating against his former partner following a full-day trial at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court. He was instructed and assisted by Jesrey Dongallo of Jung & Co Solicitors.
The Prosecution alleged that the defendant became involved in a verbal argument with his daughter at the family home, during which the complainant intervened. It was alleged that, in frustration, the defendant pushed the complainant, causing her to strike a wall. The Prosecution relied on the evidence of both the complainant and the daughter, asserting that their accounts were consistent.
During the trial, Justin robustly challenged the complainant’s oral evidence, identifying several striking inconsistencies between her witness statement and her oral evidence. He further cross-examined the complainant on discrepancies between her account and that set out in her unsuccessful application for a non-molestation order to the Family Court, drafted several months after the incident, in which she contradicted herself by alleging multiple pushes in one paragraph but a single push in another. Justin also relied on the complainant’s initial 999 call, during which she made no reference to any details of a push, instead reporting only allegations of verbal abuse directed at the daughter.
Justin went on to challenge the daughter’s evidence, highlighting several inconsistencies between her account and that of the complainant. The cumulative effect of these inconsistencies significantly undermined the reliability of her evidence and the Prosecution case as a whole. In particular, under cross-examination, the daughter conceded that she was unsure whether the complainant had struck a wall at all.
Justin further advanced the defence case that both the complainant and the daughter had an ulterior motive to implicate the defendant, namely to obtain a conviction that could be used to their advantage in ongoing divorce proceedings.
The defendant was acquitted after just 13 minutes of deliberation.
