Charged, Negotiated and Withdrawn

MA was charged with two offences namely, ‘Armed with intent’ contrary to section 114(1) Crimes Act 1900 and ‘Affray’ contrary to section 93C Crimes Act 1900.

MA pleaded not guilty to both charges. Chris Cole reviewed the Brief of Evidence in its entirety including reviewing CCTV footages and perusing statements made by independent witnesses. After careful analysis, it became evident that self-defence is a strong argument for MA.


Chris Cole prepared representations to the police to withdraw the mentioned charges on the basis of self-defence. Initially, the Commander refused to accept the representations and the matter was set for hearing. At the end, the charges were withdrawn, and the matter was dismissed.

This is a successful negotiation story.