Leavers
Fights
There are a lot of extra police working during Leavers. If you do the wrong thing, you can be charged with many different offences, which can have really serious consequences for you. While you might not think some of these are that serious, you can still end up with a criminal record. This can make it hard to get a job or travel overseas.
Any person, including a young person, who unlawfully assaults another person can be charged with a criminal offence. An assault includes hitting, kicking, pushing, spitting, indirectly applying force or threatening to apply force to another person.
It is also against the law to help or encourage an assault, such as by organising a fight or preventing the victim from leaving.
Some of the offences you could be charged with if you get into a fight at Leavers include:
Assault
You could be sentenced to a term of imprisonment if you assault someone. Assault includes pushing, hitting, kicking, punching or spitting on someone. If that person is seriously injured, increased penalties apply. If the person you assault is a public officer, such as a police officer, you could face a mandatory term of imprisonment.Damaging property
You could be charged with a criminal offence if you cause damage to someone’s property. You could also ordered to pay for the damage.Public nuisance and police offences
You could be charged with a criminal offence if you are disorderly in a public place (for example, swearing, fighting or urinating), obstruct a police officer, or fail to obey an order from a police officer (such as an order to give your name or to move-on).
Filming young people fighting
It is against the law to create, keep, share or ask for material that shows a person under the age of 18 being subject to torture, cruelty or physical abuse. Serious penalties apply.
This could include:
- filming a young person in a fight
- posting or sharing a video of a young person in a fight on social media
- keeping a video of a fight that was sent to you by someone else
