Cases March 2020

R v B

In a football related attack at the AMEX stadium our client was faced with a serious assault allegation against an old adversary. In preparing his defence a crucial witness was identified and it was necessary to have him video-linked to the Crown Court at trial, from Scotland.

During the trial, our highly experienced barrister was able to put across the defence and undermine the prosecution evidence, due to the thorough analysis we carried out in the preparation for trial. The jury took little time to return with a verdict of not guilty.

 

R v E

When representing a sportsman of international acclaim, we skilfully defended him against motoring offences and persuaded the Crown Prosecution Services to discontinue the case. This allowed us to make an application to recover part of legal costs to the client’s delight.

 

R v F

Our client faced a custodial sentence for a large scale case with others involving the supply of Drugs. He was linked to a substantial sum of money and faced a lengthy prison sentence.

We briefed a highly regarded Barrister and through careful and considered mitigation, he avoided custody and was instead given a suspended sentence with a work requirement. The client was extremely happy with the outcome.

 

R v G

Our client was accused of violently assaulting a male who worked for a local night club, whilst on duty as the head doorman for a popular city club.  In a case with lots of CCTV footage and prosecution witnesses, lots of care and attention was required to analyse the evidence in order to take our client’s instructions.  We also interviewed defence witnesses and took their statements with forensic detail, in view of the cctv, to ensure the defence was as robust as possible.

Before the District Judge at trial, skilful cross examination and presentation of the defence ultimately persuaded the District Judge to acquit the defendant

 

R v H

We represented an elderly client who was accused of causing death by driving carelessly. Whilst driving with her best friend, who was the passenger in the vehicle, they had an RTA with another vehicle with the passenger sadly dying a few days later.

Despite our requests that the prosecution was not in the public interest, and that our client had acted in every way to try and avoid the collision, indeed our client undertook a safety driving examination, the prosecution went ahead and our client was charged with Causing Death by Dangerous Driving.

We instructed an Accident Causation Expert, who’s detailed report was read at trial.    This coupled, with our highly regarded Barrister, saw our client, despite being found guilty, given the most lenient sentence possible,  an outcome to which we advised the Crown of at the outset.

 

R v M

Our client, who had just turned 18, was charged with causing grievous bodily harm in a prolonged attack in the street in the centre of Brighton. He denied the case from the beginning and despite a lot of prosecution witnesses, he pleaded not guilty and the case went to trial.

Through forensic analysis of all the evidence and taking statements from defence witnesses, it became clear that the client’s role was far from that alleged. During the trial it became clear that the prosecution case was confused, incoherent and inconsistent. Our client was subsequently acquitted when the jury returned with their verdict.

 

R v B

In a very serious and complex case, our client, who suffered from numerous mental health issues including autism, having and just turned a teenager, was charged with multiple offences, not least Arson involving a Molotov cocktail, Robbery & weapons offences.

His complex needs required a lot of care and skill with advising and taking his instructions. He pleaded guilty, was remanded into a care home and a custodial sentence seemed highly likely.

Full mitigation was made in court by us to the resident judge in our area, who was eventually persuaded that, despite the risks to society, our client should be given the chance of working with Youth Offending Service and he therefore avoided a custodial sentence.

 

R v B

Our client faced a lengthy custodial sentence after admitting to a serious assault offence in public, which put him in breach of his suspended prison sentence for a previous assault conviction.

We meticulously obtained details of his background, which included psychological trauma, good job prospects and that he was about to become a father, and skilfully presented evidence of this later to the sentencing judge. Fortunately, the Crown Court judge was persuaded not to send him immediately to prison and was in fact sympathetic of his position. Our client therefore received another suspended prison sentence and was delighted to be able to return home to his partner and 3week old son.

 

R v G

As an ex-footballer, our client was charged with a high-profile blackmail with a substantial amount of money involved within the offence. The case was very complex as it involved many thousands of pages of electronic evidence, vulnerable witnesses and links to a serious police investigation.

The trial attracted national press attention and added a lot of pressure to an already very serious case.  Our talented barrister delicately cross examined the complainant with aplomb but unfortunately our client was still convicted when the jury returned their verdict.