Warriors star Abbott avoids court following deal (From Worcester News)

Warriors star Jake Abbott avoids court following deal

10:30am Thursday 21st June 2012 in News Exclusive By James Connell

RUGBY PLAYER: Back row forward Jake Abbott (32060606)

A WORCESTER Warriors rugby player arrested on suspicion of assaulting a young woman will not face criminal charges after coming to an arrangement with the victim.

According to the victim’s father the arrangement involves an apology and financial compensation.

Police have also confirmed that this sort of resolution depends on the offender admitting the offence.

As we reported last month, back row forward Jake Abbott was accused of punching the woman in the face following a late-night altercation between two women at a taxi queue.

Mr Abbott, aged 24, was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after the incident at The Cross, Worcester, at about 4am on Sunday, May 27.

Instead of the case going to court, it has now been resolved using what police describe as ‘community resolution’ which involves an offender and victim coming to an agreement over how best to solve the issue.

The father of the victim, a 32-year-old mother-of-three who has declined to be named, said his daughter had received a one-page, hand-written apology from Mr Abbott.

He said: “The matter has been resolved. He admitted he did it. There has been some compensation paid and a letter in the form of an apology.

“It is not going to court and my daughter has accepted his apology and she is comfortable with the decision. She is okay and just wants to get on with her life.

“I think she is over the initial shock. Apparently he was very upset by it and he was extremely apologetic.

“She could have pursued this but decided it was too daunting. It was just too much for her.

"She couldn’t face it and just wants the whole thing to go away. I’m still really angry about it.”

Although the victim was treated for a suspected broken nose, a GP has since examined her and does not believe it was fractured.

He declined to discuss the amount of compensation.

A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: “The case has been resolved using community resolution, therefore the man arrested has been released without charge.”

A spokesman later added: “The person must admit the offence before we can go ahead with community resolution. It is a victim-led process.”

West Mercia introduced the community resolution process in June 2009.

Since this time police have dealt with an average of more than 250 offences each month this way.

The spokesman said: “Community resolution empowers the victim giving them a genuine say in identifying the way in which a crime could be resolved in a manner which meets their needs.

"Therefore, community resolution delivers a victim-focused outcome, which is agreed as appropriate and proportionate to the act committed, by all parties, including the police.”

Mr Abbott declined to comment.