Criminal Defence Solicitors Blog

Fraud By Abuse of Position

Posted on: March 10th, 2016 by steve

Fraud By Abuse of Position

It was the day before Christmas Eve, normally where offices have got Christmas music blaring and staff playing Christmas themed crosswords and mentally “switching off” before the festive break.

Not Forrest Williams.

I received a call from a young woman who sounded very timid and worried. She had a court case currently underway and was using a Legal Aid solicitor who she didn’t feel was doing enough to help. She wanted to speak to someone who she felt would care about putting the effort into helping her. She came to the right firm.

Laura was under investigation for Fraud by abuse of position, namely that she had been working as a sales assistant and dishonestly abused this position to make a financial gain of £9,000.

Laura was very remorseful – she had been going through a lot personally and was trying to battle her depression by working through it when she should have been taking the time off work. She lashed out the only way she knew how.

Her court case was on New Year’s Eve. Instead of telling Laura we were unable to help due to the close proximity of her case and the time of year, I made sure I did everything possible to help her even though I was off over the festive period myself! I instantly provided her with all my contact details, promising to come back to her via email, call or text as soon as I could even when off work, and also rallied our amazing team together to make sure that everyone knew of Laura’s case and would be able to help during our minimum staffing levels.

When you call Forrest Williams your call is answered within 3 rings by a lawyer who can help. I wonder how many other firms would have offered Laura the same service, especially at Christmas time?

Laura appeared at the Magistrates Court on New Year’s Eve with an experienced criminal barrister to represent her. We were confident we had a fully prepared file; Laura was confident that her barrister would fight her corner. Imagine our surprise when the prosecution decided to replace Laura’s charge of fraud by abuse of position of £9,000 up to fraud by abuse of position of £30,000!

The case was sent up to the Crown Court. My constant liaison and pressure on the prosecution between the two hearings meant that I managed to secure Laura’s original charge and have the prosecution withdraw the higher amount of £30,000. The difference in terms of sentencing options for these two amounts was huge, with a custodial sentence much more likely for the higher amount. Laura was ecstatic and couldn’t believe that the hard work of Forrest Williams behind the scenes had managed to secure this.

Laura appeared at the Crown Court with the same barrister and we managed to work towards a favourable outcome for Laura. Her custodial sentence was suspended meaning Laura could now focus on working through her depression and concentrate on her upcoming wedding. She was eternally grateful for the determination of myself as her dedicated case worker, the friendly help of calling through to a member of the team willing to help on every phone call, and the continuity of the same barrister attending her hearings.

Switching from Legal Aid to a private firm potentially saved Laura from going to custody.

If you feel your Legal Aid firm aren’t doing their best to work on your case and want the full benefits of instructing privately; or you know your life is too important to risk not having the best legal help, please call our team on 01623 397200.

New Law: Controlling Or Coercive Behaviour

Posted on: March 2nd, 2016 by steve

CONTROLLING OR COERCIVE BEHAVIOUR IN AN INTIMATE OR FAMILY RELATIONSHIP

Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 created a new offence of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship. This new offence was created to tackle the reported difficulty of proving a pattern of behaviour amounting to harassment within an intimate relationship.

This new offence came into force on 29 December 2015 and is not retrospective, meaning that anything that occurred before that date cannot be charged as the offence of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship.

The law states that you commit this offence if you repeatedly or continuously engage in behaviour towards another person that is controlling or coercive, and you and that person are personally connected, and the behaviour has a serious effect on that person, and you know or ought to know that the behaviour would have a serious effect on that person.

You and the other person are deemed to be ‘personally connected’ if you are in an intimate relationship, or you live together and are either members of the same family or you live together and have previously been in an intimate relationship with each other.

It can be proved that your behaviour had a ‘serious effect’ on the other person in two ways. Either:

It causes the other person to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against them; OR
It causes the other person serious alarm or distress which has a substantial adverse effect on their day to day life, including things such as:
- Stopping or changing the way someone socialises
- Physical or mental health deterioration
- A change in routine at home including those associated with mealtimes or household chores
- Attendance record at school
- Putting in place measures at home to safeguard themselves or their children
- Changes to work patterns, employment status or routes to work

If you are charged with this offence, your case will be heard in the magistrates or Crown Court and, if convicted, the sentence will depend on which court hears the case.

If you are convicted in the Crown Court, you are at risk of a sentence of up to five years in prison, and if you are convicted in the magistrates’ court, you are at risk of a sentence of up to 6 months in prison.

Examples of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship can include:

Isolating a person from their friends and family
Depriving them of their basic needs
Monitoring their time
Monitoring a person via online communication tools or using spyware
Taking control over aspects of their everyday life, such as where they can go, who they can see, what to wear and when they can sleep
Depriving them access to support services, such as specialist support or medical services
Repeatedly putting them down such as telling them they are worthless
Enforcing rules and activity which humiliate, degrade or dehumanise the victim
Forcing the victim to take part in criminal activity such as shoplifting, neglect or abuse of children to encourage self-blame and prevent disclosure to authorities
Financial abuse including control of finances, such as only allowing a person a punitive allowance
Control ability to go to school or place of study
Taking wages, benefits or allowances
Threats to hurt or kill
Threats to harm a child
Threats to reveal or publish private information (e.g. threatening to ‘out’ someone)
Threats to hurt or physically harming a family pet
Assault
Criminal damage (such as destruction of household goods)
Preventing a person from having access to transport or from working
Preventing a person from being able to attend school, college or University
Family ‘dishonour’
Reputational damage
Disclosure of sexual orientation
Disclosure of HIV status or other medical condition without consent
Limiting access to family, friends and finances

Defences against this charge are available, and these range from you asserting that the allegations are entirely fabricated, to your genuine belief that by behaving in the ways alleged you were acting in the other person’s interests and/or that your behaviour was reasonable in the circumstances.

If you are being investigated in relation to an allegation of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship, it is vital that you seek specialist legal help as soon as possible.

Our dedicated team are here to help – call us now on 01623 397200.

Tainted DNA Causes Unsafe Rape Convictions

Posted on: March 2nd, 2016 by steve

Tainted DNA Causes Unsafe Rape Convictions

Concerns have been raised by respected police doctors that DNA used to secure rape convictions may be tainted, leading to unsafe convictions.

Dr Steven Hopkins said he is desperately concerned that “there may well be some innocent person in prison who should not be there” and urged for old cases to be reviewed by criminal defence solicitors.

This comes as the Forensic Science Regulator drafts new guidance on the collection of intimate samples in rape cases due to allegations that doctors have been placed under pressure to work in ways that have actually been increasing the risks of contamination.

DNA is incredibly sensitive and vulnerable to being tainted, to the extent that asking the same doctor to take DNA samples from both the suspect and victim can pose a high residual risk. There are many other procedural errors and contamination risks that can cause a DNA sample to become tainted.

Dr Hopkins further alleges that the new DNA 17 sampling technique is so sensitive, he considers that the risk of a sample being contaminated using this procedure is ‘very high’ – information that will be difficult to hear for families with a loved one in custody for a rape they have always denied. This new focus can, however, provide hope for those families as it may present grounds for Appeal.

When thisevidence is presented innocently in a case, tainted DNA causes unsafe rape convictions.

If you have a historic rape conviction, or one of your loved ones are serving a sentence for a rape conviction while maintaining their innocence, you should have the case reviewed without delay. Forrest Williams are specialist rape solicitors and our award-winning team would be delighted to help you review all options.

Call our dedicated legal team now on 01623 397200.

Criminal Defence Blog

Fraud By Abuse of Position

New Law: Controlling Or Coercive Behaviour

Tainted DNA Causes Unsafe Rape Convictions