Hit a woman this morning and got a fine

voidcore was given handed a Fixed Penalty Notice under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, if I;m not mistaken - Ant has already pointed out the offence and appropriate defence, although it may be worth pointing out again:

Plead not guilty, go to court, enter a defence, pass go, collect £200, I'm not a lawyer, this is not advice, seek legal counsel etc...

If you lose, there will probably be an increase in the fine, plus a "victim surcharge", and you will receive a "criminal record", inasmuch as there will be a record of it (it is not, as far as I know, something that will show up on a CRB check, nor would you be required to declare it - but, then again, I'm no lawyer, so my opinion may be incorrect, and you are best seeking professional advice. Or just paying the penalty now, and be done with the whole affair.)

Yes, a conviction for a Section 5 offence would show up on a CRB check and, yes, you would be obliged to disclose it if asked exempted or excepted questions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. If the conviction resulted in a fine, then this would be 'spent' after 5 years - although for certain occupations and professions there is a requirement to disclose 'spent' convictions as well.

[FONT=Arial]If you are convicted during the rehabilitation period of an offence which can only be tried by a magistrates‘ court (a summary only offence), the new sentence will carry its own rehabilitation period and will not affect the earlier one. If the second offence is mre serious and you receive a sentence covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 , the earlier conviction will become spent only when the later one becomes spent. If a person is given a sentence which can never become spent, this also prevents an earlier unspent conviction from becoming spent.
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