The Archie Battersbee case #17

[Rachel H14]

4:02pm29/05/26
'I have lost everything'
"I found it very difficult to be blamed for something that I hadn't done, because I didn't like the idea that people were thinking badly of me," the victim wrote about the claim he had bottled Dance's daughter.
The injuries meant he did not go to the gym as previously and he put on weight.
His relationship was affected and he suffered some sexual dysfunction.
His insurance refused to pay out because it was not fully comprehensive and his attackers had not admitted liability, he added, so he had to eat into his savings.
"I did not feel safe knowing the defendants were nearby," he wrote of his decision to move away.
"My life will never be the same due to the decisions the defendants made. I do not understand why this has happened, but I have lost everything... I did not deserve any of it."

I wonder why Hollie's car insurance would not pay out? Maybe she had none. And Tom was in a hire car, so again I find it strange.

 

[Tofino]

I’m also getting the subscribe (pay) to read the article too

 

[Rachel H14]

4:12pm29/05/26
'This was revenge'
"There is clearly premeditation in the sense that it is an ongoing incident," says Mr Scott.
"The use of cars were the use of highly dangerous weapons, and it was a prolonged and persistent assault.
"The assault itself, I suppose Your Honour might say, was relatively short-lived, but the pursuit was not.
"So whether you describe that as part of the planning and premeditation or simply part of a persistent course of conduct, it still lends itself to being the highest category of culpability.
"And, of course, this was revenge for what was purported to have happened earlier on that evening."

 

[Rachel H14]

I’m also getting the subscribe (pay) to read the article too

I'll keep you updated so you don't have to.

I don't know why I can get it without subscription-possibly because I am on holiday abroad?

 

[Mycatismad]

I'll keep you updated so you don't have to.

I don't know why I can get it without subscription-possibly because I am on holiday abroad?

Thanks for this, I was getting the same.

 

[TerrifiedofKittens]

3.22pm

Mrs Ihuomah has risen to mitigate for Hollie Dance.

She says documents before the court include a psychologist's report, a psychiatrist's report, a letter from Dance to the judge and "a bundle of references".

"My submission to this court is that it would be contrary to the interests of justice for Your Honour on this particular occasion to follow the guidelines," she says.

"Your Honour cannot look at them in a vacuum or absent the background of Miss Dance."

She asks the judge to consider sentencing guidelines for defendant's with mental disorders and how that impacts their culpability.

She says two doctors have diagnosed Dance with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

 

[Rachel H14]

Could Hollie have been diagnosed with PSDT at the time of the offence, or just grief and guilt? I thought PSDT took time to take effect. Maybe not.

I wonder if her two previous GBH convictions will be bought up?

 

[Rachel H14]

4:31pm
29/05/26
'Disgraceful' trolling

Mrs Ihuomah says the expert opinions are "uncoloured, untainted, unemotional" views of her mental state.

"She had been through five harrowing months," says the lawyer.

"The night before the offences she had been assessed regarding her mental health status.

"The following day, simply three weeks after the burial of her son, these offences were committed".

"There are and were and remain a tranche, a series, of trolling that Miss Dance and her family received."

The judge agrees that the trolling he has seen was "absolutely disgraceful".

No doubt her FB posts, and those of Archies Army threatening violence to others will be ignored?

 

[MidnightAura]

Thank you for the updates!

 

[Rachel H14]

4:35pm29/05/26
Social Media Post
In the social media post the judge referred to earlier, written on the day of the verdicts, Dance wrote: "I stand by fighting for my children."
Mrs Ihuomah says Dance has taken legal action to protect her children in the past, and any time she uses the word fight, "she means it is a legal fight, not taking matters into her own hands".
But if the judge takes a different view of that social media post from verdict day, she says, "I rest upon the state of her mind in the middle of all of this."


....any time she uses the word fight, "she means it is a legal fight, not taking matters into her own hands".

Two previous convictions for GBH say otherwise.

 

[MidnightAura]

Hollie posted this on the group today:

What ever happens today I want to thank you all for your messages and pls pls pls talk to your children about the dangers of social media . Your life cant change in a spilt second

 

[TerrifiedofKittens]

4:35pm29/05/26
Social Media Post
In the social media post the judge referred to earlier, written on the day of the verdicts, Dance wrote: "I stand by fighting for my children."
Mrs Ihuomah says Dance has taken legal action to protect her children in the past, and any time she uses the word fight, "she means it is a legal fight, not taking matters into her own hands".
But if the judge takes a different view of that social media post from verdict day, she says, "I rest upon the state of her mind in the middle of all of this."


....any time she uses the word fight, "she means it is a legal fight, not taking matters into her own hands".

Two previous convictions for GBH say otherwise.

Silly witch can’t keep her big gob shut and has shot herself in the foot here by posting on Facebook. Did she not think it would end up before the Judge!

 

[Rachel H14]

4:40pm29/05/26
'I ask the court to pause'
Sending Dance into custody "achieves nothing for society," argues Mrs Ihuomah.
The judge would be "sending a woman who is already damaged into an unattractive environment which will have no benefit for her, ultimately no benefit for society."
She adds: "I do not offer my mitigation lightly and I ask the court to pause before imposing a sentence against Miss Dance."

Sending Hollie to prison will benefit the mental health of the victim, the hospital staff that she flagged off repeatedly, will reinforce the belief that no one is above prison, and keep a violent person away from the public.

 

[Rachel H14]

4:44pm29/05/26
Restraining Order
Recorder Peter Clark has imposed an indefinite restraining order banning Dance from contacting the victim, directly or indirectly, or referring to him on any social media platform.

He has also ordered the forfeiture of the pepper spray found at the crash scene.

 

[Rachel H14]

4:53pm29/05/26
Car 'not a highly dangerous weapon'
Mrs Lauchlan is now on her feet to mitigate for Thomas Summers.
She references new sentencing guidelines saying sentences of up to three years can be suspended, whereas previously it was two.
"I am going to ask the court to be lenient and to consider issuing a suspended sentence," she says.
She also asks for guidelines on sentencing people with mental disorders to be considered, saying he has anxiety and depression.
"A car in these specific circumstances is not a highly dangerous weapon," she argues.
"This was an impromptu pursuit without forward thinking or planning, in my respectful submission."

Wow, how thick does a legal professional have to be to say "A car in these specific circumstances is not a highly dangerous weapon," after the victims list of injuries were detailed?

"This was an impromptu pursuit without forward thinking or planning, in my respectful submission." Again, wow. They chased him for 15 minutes, only stopping to smash the windows of his car, so lots of forward thinking and planning between the two of them

 

[TerrifiedofKittens]

4:53pm29/05/26
Car 'not a highly dangerous weapon'
Mrs Lauchlan is now on her feet to mitigate for Thomas Summers.
She references new sentencing guidelines saying sentences of up to three years can be suspended, whereas previously it was two.
"I am going to ask the court to be lenient and to consider issuing a suspended sentence," she says.
She also asks for guidelines on sentencing people with mental disorders to be considered, saying he has anxiety and depression.
"A car in these specific circumstances is not a highly dangerous weapon," she argues.
"This was an impromptu pursuit without forward thinking or planning, in my respectful submission."

Wow, how thick does a legal professional have to be to say "A car in these specific circumstances is not a highly dangerous weapon," after the victims list of injuries were detailed?

If I ever go on a rampage in a car I will pull the anxiety and depression card!

 

[Rachel H14]

5:02pm29/05/26
Fertility Treatment
Mrs Lauchlan says sending Summers to prison would prevent him from becoming a father.
He and his long-term partner are currently undergoing fertility treatment which has so far been unsuccessful and could not continue if he was jailed, she says.
Before sending him to prison, she asks the judge to consider "the traumatic effect that that would not only have on his partner, his family, but building a family of his own. That would be a dream that would be absolutely cut short for that reason."

Tough. That will be one cav less running wild in Southend.
He also won't be able to win the lottery, so any dreams of becoming a millionaire will be crushed too.
Actions have consequences.

 

[Mycatismad]

4:53pm29/05/26
Car 'not a highly dangerous weapon'
Mrs Lauchlan is now on her feet to mitigate for Thomas Summers.
She references new sentencing guidelines saying sentences of up to three years can be suspended, whereas previously it was two.
"I am going to ask the court to be lenient and to consider issuing a suspended sentence," she says.
She also asks for guidelines on sentencing people with mental disorders to be considered, saying he has anxiety and depression.
"A car in these specific circumstances is not a highly dangerous weapon," she argues.
"This was an impromptu pursuit without forward thinking or planning, in my respectful submission."

Wow, how thick does a legal professional have to be to say "A car in these specific circumstances is not a highly dangerous weapon," after the victims list of injuries were detailed?

"This was an impromptu pursuit without forward thinking or planning, in my respectful submission." Again, wow. They chased him for 15 minutes, only stopping to smash the windows of his car, so lots of forward thinking and planning between the two of them

What difference does being impromptu and unplanned make when you’re ramming someone at speed with a ton of metal?

 

[troutpout69]

5:02pm29/05/26
Fertility Treatment
Mrs Lauchlan says sending Summers to prison would prevent him from becoming a father.
He and his long-term partner are currently undergoing fertility treatment which has so far been unsuccessful and could not continue if he was jailed, she says.
Before sending him to prison, she asks the judge to consider "the traumatic effect that that would not only have on his partner, his family, but building a family of his own. That would be a dream that would be absolutely cut short for that reason."

Tough. That will be one cav less running wild in Southend.
He also won't be able to win the lottery, so any dreams of becoming a millionaire will be crushed too.
Actions have consequences.

Is he still with that blonde scrubber who let commenting on behalf of the family at the time?

 

[Rachel H14]

5:06pm29/05/26
Another man confessed to the bottling
Mrs Lauchlan tells the court another man - not the victim - ultimately confessed to bottling Summers' sister.
That was the man who Summers later attacked, for which he received a conviction for assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).
That man - a friend of the victim in this trial - was later shown to be involved in the campaign of trolling against Dance, Summers and their family.
The abuse included threats of grape towards Dance and her daughter, the lawyer says.