A young woman living in rural Victoria made an appointment with us regarding 3 criminal charges in relation to family violence towards her ex-boyfriend she had been served with. The police had given her our details and encouraged her to seek legal advice. During our first appointment, Emily admitted to one charge and completely denied the other 2 charges. She also admitted to a minor alcohol problem, but was very receptive to get help. We referred her to Australian Community Support Organisation (ACSO) for assistance with her alcohol problem and she contacted them as soon as our appointment was finished.
As we were preparing for negotiation with the police to try to get the 2 charges she denied withdrawn, it became clear that Emily had no idea how toxic her relationship with her ex-boyfriend was. We encouraged her to seek the help of a family violence counsellor which she promptly did. With the help of the counsellor, Emily opened up more and more about different behaviours the ex-boyfriend had had towards her. Emily had suffered through controlling behaviours and physical abuse at the hands of her ex-boyfriend.
We decided to make submissions to Victoria Police that Emily had been misidentified as the perpetrator when in fact, she was the victim. We submitted a long list of incidents and behaviours to enforce our viewpoint. The day before the matter was listed at Court, Victoria Police agreed to withdraw all charges. Emily was incredibly thankful she could now rebuild her life without having to deal with the ongoing consequences of having such charges on her criminal record.
As we were preparing for negotiation with the police to try to get the 2 charges she denied withdrawn, it became clear that Emily had no idea how toxic her relationship with her ex-boyfriend was. We encouraged her to seek the help of a family violence counsellor which she promptly did. With the help of the counsellor, Emily opened up more and more about different behaviours the ex-boyfriend had had towards her. Emily had suffered through controlling behaviours and physical abuse at the hands of her ex-boyfriend.
We decided to make submissions to Victoria Police that Emily had been misidentified as the perpetrator when in fact, she was the victim. We submitted a long list of incidents and behaviours to enforce our viewpoint. The day before the matter was listed at Court, Victoria Police agreed to withdraw all charges. Emily was incredibly thankful she could now rebuild her life without having to deal with the ongoing consequences of having such charges on her criminal record.
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BGCLS Acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the region we service, their diversity, histories and knowledge and their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their Elders past present and emerging.
To find out more about the service please follow this link: About Us
BGCLS Acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the region we service, their diversity, histories and knowledge and their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their Elders past present and emerging.
Many images of Ballarat and surrounds by photographer, Andrew Thomas. Visit Andrew's website to see more of his beautiful images - http://www.andrewthomasphotographer.com/