On Jul 30, 4:42 pm, wrote:
But without a victim, a conviction is unlikely.

Not necessarily. The police manage it all the time with motorists and
other groups.

Sorry, missed this. Without a victim *for a crime that requires one*.
Similarly, if the police apprehend someone with an enormous bag of
crack, they're unlikely to get very far with "err, I didn't mean to
hurt anyone". These are offences where the presence or otherwise of a
victim is irrelevant in law.

However, if you beat someone up and they're not willing to give a
police statement, much less testify, then you won't be prosecuted.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org