I see your point. You are right about your friend's case in that the other
party didn't initiate a complaint and the police didn't give a ticket
consequently. I think that this is possible because the police won't have
direct evidence to give your friend's a ticket if the other party declined
to identify your friend.
The case we are discussing is a bit different because the ticket is already
issued and the victim had already given testimony to the police. The charge
is out of the hand of the pol