The Verdict

I finally made it to court after all the build up and stress I have been feeling over the last few months.

The day got off to a bad start when I thought that the court I was meant to attend was the Crown Court so I showed up and made it to the foyer. The lady looked up the case on the computer and there was no case listed so I showed her the letter I had been sent and she told me I was in the wrong court! I had asked a few people where the court I was meant to be was and they had said it was this one so I am blameless for that faux paus! I managed to make it to a taxi and get to the other building with minutes to spare.

The incident that occured was this - In April two youths came into my work for a meal. They were acting arrogant towards me and then when one was attempting to help himself to a pizza left for a customer the chef told him not to touch it and stop showing off.

The guy then got rowdy calling his friend over and they were both at the hatch in the restaurant threatening my colleague. The chef had a pizza cutter in his hands at the time and then, as they were yelling at him to come out from the kitchen to fight them - he motioned that he was going to bring the knife with him in an effort to scare them off.

The two lads then walked out of the restuarant shouting at him to follow them up the stairs and into the street. The chef didn't follow and continued with his work until he was suspended on the spot and then he had to leave the building.

When out in the street he realised the youths were still waiting for him and he went back into the store and phoned the police. He was the one who ended up arrested.

The thing is - the manager and the two customers said that the knife was swung in a threatening way and this was not what happened. It was an exaggeration that I felt couldn't be overlooked so I made the statement to the police a few days later.

I'd like to think that everyone who knows me is aware that when I shoot from the lip, if you will, and will speak up if something isn't right. This was the time where I had a lot to lose as I was speaking out against my employers but I felt it was unjust that the exact circumstances of the incident were blown out of proportion. It resulted in a colleague losing his job and I could very well have kept quiet but it would have been a regret for me if I didn't say what was right.

So - I took the witness box three hours after arriving at the court and the judges were told about my condition so I was allowed water and was allowed to take breaks if it got too much for me.

I gave the evidence as I saw it and instead of hanging around, I decided to go home. The usher took my number so I could be informed of the verdict.

I received a call a little later on in the afternoon from my ex-colleague who told me the judges had said he was not guilty but then the usher phoned an hour or so after that telling me the case was thrown out due to the evidence that all of us gave being conflicting.

Therefore, the case was unresolved but there will be no criminal record dished out which is a bittersweet victory for the former chef.

The most intimidating part of the day was having those two guys give me stares while I was in the waiting room. It just shows you what kind of people we were dealing with that day. Thankfully, they didn't get the result they were looking for.

In closing I just want to explain that a lot of these recent blog updates have been underwhelming because I wanted to grasp my feelings at the time of writing rather than planned out as I usually do.

To end on a lighter note one of the highlights of my day was swearing in court. I was asked what was said by one of the males and I started by saying 'He said 'you..'(short pause).. Am I allowed to swear in court?' the judges all nodded and I finished with 'fucking idiot!'