Posts Tagged ‘case studies’

Legal Knowledge Alone Isn’t Enough

Posted on: October 21st, 2015 by steve

Steve Williams of Forrest Williams

Legal Knowledge Alone Isn’t Enough

As a lawyer our job is not just about knowing the law, it is also about knowing what is best for each individual client.

Today I was representing a client on a very sensitive charge. He was very nervous about it getting out in the press. He had never been in court before and not surprisingly he was very anxious. He faced serious charges and we hope to be able to avoid prison eventually, but appreciated that the court would initially view the matter as so serious that they would send them to the Crown Court.

We were happy with that because whilst the Crown Court have more sentencing powers and could actually send him to prison for longer we believe that they were likely to be more lenient than the magistrates court. The reason for this is that they are more used to serious charges whereas this would be one of the more serious, and shocking offences that the magistrates would see. A Crown Court Judge would be more likely to be able to put it into perspective. A Crown Court Judge is also more likely to be confident enough to deal with it without sending my client to prison, whereas magistrates can be more inclined to follow their sentencing guidelines strictly.

Having fully prepared in advance we took the view that we would not argue against the matter going to the Crown Court.

We got to court early, and I spoke to the Legal Adviser. Because of the nature of the hearing and because everything had been agreed thanks to our preparation and early arrival, she was able to do it herself and she agreed to deal with it before the magistrates arrived. The client didn’t even need to go into the court room.

The matter was dealt with in seconds; a date for the Crown Court hearing was given and we left the court before it formally opened and before any press arrived.

The client was delighted. We managed to get the matter dealt with without his biggest fears of the day happening – namely having to go into court and the fear of the press being there.

Apart from knowing that this could be done, very little of the result came as a result of legal knowledge. Instead it came from –

Recognising what was important to the client;

Caring enough to do this;

Being fully prepared beforehand;

Having a policy that means we only deal with one client per advocate. You know with us that your lawyer won’t be distracted by juggling several other cases;

Giving clients our focused and undivided attention;

Getting enough publicity from our awards and recognition that we don’t have to seek attention through our clients’ names in the paper

If your case is so important that you want your lawyers’ undivided and personal attention, go private. Call us on 01623 397200 to discuss how we could help you.

When Does Something Become An Offensive Weapon?

Posted on: August 28th, 2015 by steve

Helen Newman of Forrest Williams

When does something become an Offensive Weapon?

We recently represented an individual charged with Possession of an Offensive Weapon. The ‘weapon’ being a rounders bat. He had the item with him during the day as he travelled to university and then used the weapon during the course of a disagreement.

When I walk the dog at night I carry a large flashlight – probably similar in weight and the damage it could inflict on a person if used in such a way – so at what stage does a seemingly innocuous item become a ‘weapon’?

The law concerning this is contained within the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 and in order to satisfy the charge, the prosecution must prove that the defendant:

Has with him (possession);
In any public place;
Any offensive weapon

So proving he has it with him seems relatively easy, so we must consider if it is a public place – this is generally held to be a place to which the general public can gain access without obstruction. The key here is determining that the defendant is carrying an ‘offensive weapon’. The courts will be looking to see if there is reasonable excuse to be in possession of the item, if the item was used to cause fear or to threaten an individual or if there were plans in place to use the item to threaten or cause fear.

So on this basis a set of kitchen knives, purchased from the supermarket and placed in a handbag to take home, though clearly holding the potential for use as an offensive weapon would not constitute an offensive weapon for the purposes of the offence because their carrying could be justified and explained. A person could not however place a knife in their bag because they knew they would be walking home alone later. Similarly a sportsman en route to a fixture could carry his equipment with him both there and back but could not carry the same items if their intended use was for something other than use in their associated sport.

Our client was headed to university to sit an exam. When asked why he had the bat with him he said it reassured him to know it was there. You see, our client was recovering from a serious physical assault which had hospitalised him and for which he was still receiving treatment and required further surgical procedures. So being reassured by the presence of the bat in his bag is more understandable than it may first sound, but, in the eyes of the law it became an offensive weapon because its intended use was to cause harm (albeit to prevent further injury to himself).

Our client was sentenced to 4 months custody suspended for 2 years, and had a court imposed curfew (tagged) for 60 days and was very happy with the outcome as an immediate custodial sentence had been avoided.

If you are charged with an offence, give the Forrest Williams Team a call on 01623 397200 and we would be happy to have a chat with you about your situation and the circumstances of your offence and advise you further.

Criminal Damage Client Found Not Guilty

Posted on: July 1st, 2015 by steve

Julia Coffin of Forrest Williams

Criminal Damage Client Found Not Guilty
– by Julia Coffin, paralegal

Another fantastic result for the Forrest Williams team this week, and an outstanding outcome for a very agitated and upset client.

We were in court this week for the trial of our client Chris in his matter of Criminal Damage. The allegation was that he had damaged his neighbour’s car by kicking it during a dispute over parking.

Although this incident occurred in January, Chris only called me two weeks before his trial date and he was understandably very upset and in a panic. He had instructed another solicitor for the first hearing back in March and to do the trial preparation but had just come out of a meeting with them and could not see what work had been done to move his matter forward. He felt they were still in the same place as they were after the first hearing and here he was, two weeks away from trial and a possible criminal record, with no idea of how the case would be handled and with no confidence in his solicitors.

I listened to his story very carefully and quickly realised that the only realistic thing I could do to help him at this late stage was to suggest that we take over the case for him.

I also knew that this meant contacting the prosecution service for the full file of papers, assessing the strength of the evidence against him, contacting the previous solicitors for their file….all things that take time and we were already close to trial date. Oh…and I had to ask him for money as well, and here was a client with an already low opinion of solicitors due to his previous experience, and who had already paid a solicitor to sit on his file and do nothing. Not always an easy conversation to have with someone!

To be honest he didn’t take a lot of convincing. Despite his bad experience with the other law firm, he felt reassured that we would take over and do a good job for him and he would finally see some progress.

The following week was a frustrating lack of material progress with four false starts trying to get the client’s statement due to his unpredictable working pattern. At Forrest Williams, our case management is very client focused and often, the client statement is vital as it draws out information that gives us ideas and information of which way to run a case. We finally got his statement and realised we had a potential witness so had to spend time contacting the witness and taking her statement.

Two days before trial Chris was calling us demanding to know what the action plan was to be in court, and very agitated about the parking issues that are an ongoing issue for him.

I had to be quite firm with him, to reassure him that everything was in hand. We had been working very hard on his case and we had all the information we needed at that point. I managed to convince him that there were absolutely no issues and whilst he was clearly very anxious, there was no need for him to worry about what we were doing, as everything was in order. This seemed to calm him and we were back on track.

During our “day before hearing” telephone call where we discussed the court process, I explained to Chris that the issue at hand was one of Criminal Damage, although the basis of almost every conversation we’d had was about the parking issue. I gently advised Chris that if he took his frustration over the parking problems into court with him then he would be giving the prosecution a motive for the alleged behaviour, and that he really needed to moderate his language and behaviour, and also to forget the parking issue and focus on the Criminal Damage. He took my advice very well and was very understanding.

This is a common thing. Most clients are charged with an offence that is only part of a very large story of what is happening in their life, and they want to make the Court aware of everything when, often, the Court is focused on what can seem to be a tiny point of law. We realise how important it is that clients understand exactly what the issues in their case are from a legal point, so that they can be fully prepared for the court room experience.

The result was that in Court, Chris gave a very credible account of himself, was calm throughout and stuck to his statement without veering off to discuss the parking issue, which despite being very important to Chris was irrelevant and actually unhelpful in a legal sense. His witness did the same. The complainant, however, clearly hadn’t been briefed very well and gave a very theatrical performance on the stand, which undermined his statement and his case.

The result was a not guilty verdict, meaning a win for our extremely grateful client and for the Forrest Williams team. Chris will now be able to apply for a portion of his legal fees to be refunded to him by the Court.

Criminal Defence Blog

Posts Tagged ‘case studies’

Legal Knowledge Alone Isn’t Enough

When Does Something Become An Offensive Weapon?

Criminal Damage Client Found Not Guilty

Forrest Williams TV