If only that were true
when my son was 17 and walking through a park with his girlfriend, he was attacked by a lad with 4 mates. The lad headbutted him, breaking his nose, punched him in the head a few times, then kicked him in the head when he went to ground. A chap close by on his way to his night shift saw everything, and ran over shouting at the group, and they ran off.
As his nose was broken, the police said it was GBH, and they would throw the book at him. They had the witness statement from the nightshift guy too. End result? They said it was my sons word against the other 5 lads... I asked wtf, they have an independent witness, but they shrugged and said nothing could be done.
Sometime after, I took a call at home for my son from the police, so asked them why they wanted him. The copper said they have a "scheme" where they get perpetrators of violence to meet the victim to understand the effect it can have. I asked the copper if I could be there when they met, and he said sure, So I added "good, I want to make sure I know what he looks like, to make sure I cripple the right person". The copper then started reading the riot act to me, said if I did that, I would go to prison etc etc. so I asked how, if it was his word against mine? As you might expect, the offer to meet was withdrawn.
Must admit, afterwards I wished I'd kept quiet and just let the meeting happen, and then got houch to go see him... :emoji_smile: