NSW Family Feuds - Is What Happened Acceptable?

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Karax

Member
6 December 2018
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0
1
Two Sundays ago, I had been drinking with my boyfriend and his family. I hadn’t drunk in a long while and the alcohol had really hit me quite quickly and I ended up pretty irresponsibly drunk.

We had made our way to my partner's dad's place. Where everyone continued to drink and have fun.
Something came up from the past (between my boyfriend and I) and he was telling me to shut up. (I refused to shut up as I really don’t like being told to shut up if I have something to say.

I also believe there’s a much nicer way to ask someone to “shut up”) and it escalated the situation and my boyfriend, his sister and I ended up arguing. I had said some nasty things and he told me he was leaving me. My boyfriend, his sister and her boyfriend then left to sit somewhere else after their dad told me that I was never to come to the house again. Afterwards, I hadn’t realised no one was around and was talking to myself. His dads girlfriend then popped her head around the corner and escalated the situation even more by telling me that no ones listening to my bull**** and no one cares about what I have to say.

This woman and I have had disputes in the past but they were never sorted out and it never involved any form of argument. So her and I then started arguing about all that. I was told to leave the house. That was all good and well and I was trying to find a lift because I couldn’t walk home (in a wheelchair and was using my prosthetic leg (which i haven’t got much balance on) I had people making comments to me and I was arguing back with them while I was leaning on the bench trying to find someone to come and get me out of there.

Before I knew it, my partners dad had my arms and was trying to drag me out of the house. I resisted. He had me that tight that he left bruises on my arms. All I remember was resisting and swinging because he just would not let me walk out on my own. (I’m not one to be violent).

Eventually I lost balance and fell and ended up on the ground. My ankle was broken and I knew it. I tried to tell people it was broken but no one believed me and continued to escalate the problem. I was laying in silence and pain. Then started yelling that they were all cruel and dogs because they wouldn’t help me. My partners dad then came up to me and grabbed my arms and physically dragged me with a broken ankle across the floor to the other end of the house where the front door was and left me there in pain for an hour while he drove to get my father to come and get me out of the house.

In the meantime, my boyfriend had fled the scene. He watched it all happen and did not help me once. His sister had hit me across the face with a bottle of milk and then all told me to shut up and left the room.

I need to know what is acceptable for my partner's dad in terms of removing me out of the house. Was this taken too far? I was willing to leave I was just securing a ride.

My boyfriend says I deserved every bit of what I got and he walked away the entire time it was happening. Is this true? Did I actually deserve what I got?

I’m very understanding as to where I went wrong. I was very apologetic the next day to my partner's sister for the horrible things I had said but not to his dad. His dad had blocked me from all communication. Which is fine. I would have done the same. But his dad's girlfriend insists on continuing the drama by calling me horrible names and flipping me off every time she sees me.

I’m fed up.
 

Rod

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
27 May 2014
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What do you want to happen?

There are a few things in your post that are actionable from a legal perspective, both civil and criminal.

Whether you want to exercise your rights is another story.
 

Karax

Member
6 December 2018
3
0
1
What do you want to happen?

There are a few things in your post that are actionable from a legal perspective, both civil and criminal.

Whether you want to exercise your rights is another story.
I would like to take it further. But I’m a little confused as to where I actually stand. My boyfriend says that people are allowed to use reasonable force to remove somebody from their home. I don’t know if this is considered reasonable or not. I feel like reasonable would be holding my arm with a firm (but not too firm!) of a grip and maybe helping me out of the house rather then how far it had escalated.


My partner says that if I was to go further that there will be consequences. Regarding my relationship with him and the people involved. Meaning a threat that he will leave me and whatever else comes with it including the people involved. I just want to know where I stand. If I was to pursue any legal action, is It even going to matter? Because I was verbal first?
 

Rod

Lawyer
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27 May 2014
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Being verbal does not give anyone the right to assault you unless you were threatening.

You can report the father and sister to the police, and sue for medical expenses.
 

Karax

Member
6 December 2018
3
0
1
Being verbal does not give anyone the right to assault you unless you were threatening.

You can report the father and sister to the police, and sue for medical expenses.

These are my exact thoughts and why I was a little confused when my partner said that it was all me and they had the right.

Thank you a bunch!
 

Scruff

Well-Known Member
25 July 2018
902
133
2,389
NSW
Being verbal does not give anyone the right to assault you unless you were threatening.

You can report the father and sister to the police, and sue for medical expenses.
There's also the serious matter of failing to get/provide medical assistance. Unfortunately it's not a criminal offence on it's own, but could certainly be grounds for further damages in a civil action considering how the injury came about.

Adding to what Rod said, find a more caring boyfriend.
I'll take that a step further and say get rid of him before something a lot more serious happens. He has clearly shown with this incident that you are very low on his list of priorities.
 

Ozwarlock67

Well-Known Member
16 April 2015
167
19
459
Domestic violence/abuse comes into play here, I reckon. Definitely time to distance yourself from both the boyfriend and the family. You don't need people like that.