A man from south London who assaulted a woman and a boy in a domestic violence incident has been prosecuted using evidence provided by a police body-worn video.

Both victims had spoken to police following the assault but later felt unable to give evidence in court. However, Magistrates allowed footage recorded by officers straight after the attack to be played in court at the man’s trial.

In the video the woman described how the man grabbed her by the hair, and repeatedly hit her head, before punching the boy when he intervened. He was convicted of two counts of assault and sentenced to a three-month suspended prison sentence for each of the two assaults to be served concurrently, given a 150 hours unpaid work requirement and ordered to pay £620 in costs.

"This was a nasty case of domestic abuse and the victims' credible and truthful account of what happened, which was captured on video very soon after the attack, was central to the prosecution case,” commented Safira Afzal from the Crown Prosecution Service.

"We know these can be difficult and sensitive cases to put before a court and victims are sometimes reticent to support prosecutions for a variety of reasons,” she added. "This case proves there are new and compelling ways to present cases and achieve justice for victims."

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