I think you guys and girls have a very simplistic view.
A mate of mine jumped in to break up a fight a couple of months back. He's now up on an assault charge because he grabbed one of the blokes in a head lock. It's on security tape and the angle makes it look like he punched the other bloke from behind. Now he is looking at jail and at very least a crim record for violence. There goes his career in psychology.
Do as you wish but remember there are other ways of helping rather than 'breaking it up.'
You guys are also forgetting that that's exactly what this young man was doing. He was trying to 'break the fight up.'
We are not saying everyone should jump in and help. We are saying we would jump in and help and I still would do it everytime.
Have you heard the saying, "Its better to be judge by 12 than carried by 6"?.
In a past working life I have been involved in many arrest's. I have been the victim of more assualts than I can remember. I have a few stab/slash wounds, have been stuck with a syringe, had bumps the size of golf balls all over my head, been run down and ragged under the cars and been thrown up over the bonnets of 2 others, broken ribs just to name a few injuries sustained.
Sure there things that can be done to avoid becoming involved in a physical way. Yelling out Police are coming etc is a great way.
Can you tell me where the difference is between you assisting a mate who is being gang attacked and you assisting a member of the public who is being gang attacked? The answer is there is'nt any and in true respect you are more liable to over react to a friends being bashed than a starnger.
You say your friend is up on assault charges for grabbing someone in a head lock!!!! That was his first mistake. The pure fact that he has grabbed someone in a headlock in an attempt to restrain someone is not deemed self defense.
Actions speak louder than words and if there is decent footage on cctv your mate needs to show true and proper cause as to why a head lock was necessary. I doubt he will cop jail but then again I do not know the specifics of the case and of course it could also depend on any injury sustained.
Things could also depend on past criminal activity or charges. First offences rarely contain jail/criminal record or conviction and in which case they would'nt affect his career in Pyschology but like I mentioned that depends on witness accounts, statements tendered to the corts and other briefs of evidence.
Once stepping in to help someone is not for everyone and I don't think people who are, how can I say, not trained or not confident enough should step in but I would do it everytime.
No one deserves to be attacked by thugs......no one deserves to be gang bashed.........no one deserves to have their family member left like that by cowards.
To finish off this rather long post I will say that I have a low tolerance for a variety of reasons. I had my grandfather murdered in his own home in Deer Park Victoria in 1989 by an 18 year old. This 18 year old also bashed my grandmother so severely that she basically died 2 years later from her injuries (that and a broken heart).
There used to be the days when you'd have a blew one on one. You'd shake hands and then have a drink and a laugh. It's a sad realization how time are changing.
