Has the UK got a statute of limitations for GBH with intent?
No – the statute of limitations doesn’t apply to criminal cases. If you look at any news site, such as the BBC, you will see there are people who are charged with serious offences from many many years ago every week. As forensic science has improved we can expect to see much more of this. The police regularly do reviews of ‘cold cases’ – serious crimes where no-one was ever caught and see if, with the new science, they can now find the perpetrator. The statute of limitations only, very generally, applies to civil cases – such as suing someone for libel. There is not, and never has been, an amnesty for prisoners. What has happened recently is that, die to prison overcrowding, people who had almost finished their sentences for non-violent offences were allowed to leave prison slightly early (usually only a few days) For info: GBH with intent is a more serious offence than GBH.
