News

R v B
Our client was facing a public order charge which if found guilty would have a devastating effect on his company. A detailed and thorough trial preparation enabled the QC to successfully defend the client at trial and obtain a defence costs order as he was paying privately for his defence.

A case that involved a lot of media coverage spanning over a year saw the defendant charged with assault. Despite strong prosecution evidence the court saw through the allegation and agreed with our trial advocate that the complainant, despite being old and frail, had a mental fortitude and never thought he was going to be assaulted and that the fall, which caused injuries, was an unfortunate accident. The client was acquitted and the court ordered a costs in his favour as he was privately funding his defence.

A head doorman of a large night club faced charges of assaulting two young woman, an allegation made more serious due to it being allegedly done whilst at work. Proactive preparation, which involved amongst things obtaining floor plans, photos and videos of the club and interviewing of witnesses, meant that our advocate could put forward an unassailable defence that led to the defendant being acquitted.

A domestic allegation of violence against a female partner was made against our client. In front of the resident Judge for the Brighton area our advocate expertly cross-examined the complainant to reveal serious question marks in the complaint. Consequently a half time submission of no case to answer was made and accepted by the Judge. This meant that the defendant was acquitted without having to go through the experience of giving evidence under cross examination.

A serious case of sexual assault against a young girl witnessed by 2 independent witnesses. Our client was found guilty but after obtaining a psychological report on our client the Judge agreed that in this exceptional case he should avoid custody and the client was given a community order.

Our client was charged with another in connection with over 80 internet frauds which caused a loss of thousands of pounds. The case lasted 2 years and required a high level of scrutiny when analysising the large amount of papers. At trial we persuaded the Judge that the defendant clearly had no knowledge of the frauds, which had been carried out by the co-defendant, and had been manipulated by the co-defendant who was a sophisticated fraudster. The Judge accepted our half time submission of no case to answer and acquitted our client.

Both our client’s were charged with assaulting a steward at Brighton & Hove Albion’s AMEX stadium. Analysis of extensive cctv footage of the ground and revealed that the case was not quite as alleged to be and under cross-examination significant doubts were raised so that the Magistrates agreed with our advocate’s submissions and acquitted both clients

R v P
Our client was charged with causing death of another by dangerous driving. There was a lot of national media coverage and emotion which required a robust and delicate case management by us. The client was found guilty after trial but we managed to keep the sentence down to 7 years of imprisonment when it could have been 14 years.

R v K
An allegation of street robbery denied by our client, a juvenile, and when the trial date was set we persuaded the court, against the police's wishes, to bail our client with an electronic curfew. It transpired as the case papers were served onto us that the prosecution was flawed. At this time the client was arrested for breaching his curfew. Representations were mane immediately to the CPS over the phone and they were persuaded that the matter should be discontinued. They agreed to immediately send us a copy of the notice which meant that we were able to send it onto the police which made them release the client immediately. Our efforts not only stopped a trial but also prevented a juvenile from staying over night police cells for a court breach hearing the next day.

For most people the festive period is a time for families to celebrate and relax, spending quality time together.

This however isn't the case for all as a cocktail of excessive drinking, financial pressure and people spending more time together, can lead to arguments which may result in violence.

Last year police officers responded to 979 domestic calls between December 20 and January 1. The call numbers ranged from 61 on 21 December to 127 on News Years Day.

The Sunday before Christmas as well as Christmas Day was the next highest with 78 and 85 respectively.

During that period police received an average of 73 domestic abuse calls each day, compared with 63 such calls every day for the rest of the year.

Sussex Police is launching a campaign to crackdown on domestic violence around Christmas and New Year, when officers will respond to additional 10 calls per day.

From 20 December 2014 Sussex Police specialist domestic abuse patrols equipped with body-worn cameras will be on the beat to respond to reports as part of Operation Ribbon.    

If problems arise in your home then please don't hesitate to contact us on our emergency number 07654 387362 for expert advice. Our advice and attendance at the police station is free!

We hope that everyone has a merry Christmas with their family and a happy new year

R v R & others
Through a detailed analysis of the prosecution case, which revealed significant weaknesses, we were successful in persuading the Judge to dismiss 7 of the 9 counts of Burglary of Dwelling/TWOC

R v S
Our client faced an allegation of serious assault with an axe causing significant injury. Despite the obvious difficulties faced with in the case, he was acquitted after trial, the Court being persuaded that he acted in self defence.

R v A
Assault. Very unusual case as the defendant was very unwell and had issues with communicating that might have required a mediator. However in the instance, it was though it might hamper his defence and so one was not applied for. Despite these problems, we successfully defended him at trial.

R v M
Criminal Damage. Issues of identity. Thorough cross-examination led to a successful submission of no case to answer resulting in the Magistrates stopping the trial half way though which avoided the client having to give evidence as he was acquitted of the charge.

R v R & others
A complex case involving 3 juvenile defendants alleged to have committed Domestic Burglary. Careful analysis proved that the crime scene had been tampered with and the defendant was acquitted after trial.

R v M
Appeal against the Criminal Damage and Assault convictions. Highly charged domestic case where the conviction was successfully over turned at the Crown Court after we demonstrated the weakness in the prosecution case.

R v K
An extremely serious multi-handed child sex abuse case with numerous counts where the court exercise its new powers of sentence due to the increase in the sentencing tariff.

R v P
Despite finger print evidence linking him to a domestic burglary crime scene our trial advocate was able to persuade the Magistrates to acquit our client of this offence.

R v A
This was an unusual large-scale commercial burglary involving several attacks on auction houses involving a total loss in excess of a 1/4 million pounds. The defendant was convicted after a lengthy trial exceeding 4 weeks. He then faced confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 but the court, on our application, allowed our client to retain property and, indeed, safe-guard his wife's own property as well.

R v K
The client's bail conditions infringed several of her rights under the Human rights Act 1998 including family life; she was prohibited from returning home and as a result nor could her children. Despite numerous attempts to persuade both the Magistrates and Crown Court that this was unlawful they would not vary the bail conditions to allow her to go home.

The local authority housing department would not move our client to appropriate housing for the family and attempts by the local MP were unsuccessful too. Finally, after suggesting to the Crown Court that we would seek a judicial review in the High Court, the Resident Judge agreed to revoke the bail conditions.

This was especially satisfying as it meant that the client's family would spend Christmas together and, ultimately, because the client was acquitted of both charges.

R v B
This client was charged with section 5 Public Order Act 1986, whereas, in fact, he had been the subject of of an unlawful assault by the police.

We persuaded the police that the proceedings should be discontinued and our client was successful in recovering compensation.

R v S
This client was charged with serious historical sex offences against his brothers when they were young children. He avoided a lengthy immediate prison sentence because, after taking advice, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges and denied other more serious charges and was acquitted at his trial of all charges except one, which was the least serious.

R v M
This case involved serious historical sexual assaults against children stretching over three decades. The defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges and at his trial, due to skillful preparation and advocacy, he avoided a conviction as there was a miss-trial  

R v S
The client was charged with benefit fraud, involving an amount of approximately £26,000, which was repaid. However, this left the client facing several serious charges involving dishonesty. After raising a complex defence against this on the basis of the client suffering from pernicious anamia, the Department for Work and Pensions agreed to reduce/amend charges, with the result that the Crown Court Judge did not impose an immediate imprisonment.

R v C
The client was charged with benefit fraud in a sum exceeding £30,000, which she claimed for a property in the UK, while she was living in the USA.

After negotiations regarding the repayment of the debt by the sale of assets in the USA, the court were persuaded not to impose an immediate prison sentence.

R v R
The client was charged with a speeding offence but due to an inordinate delay by the CPS, we successfully applied to the Magistrates to dismiss the charge.

R v W
A client of previous good character and school volunteer was convicted by Magistrates in her absence of serious allegations made by two neighbouring families. Having made extensive enquiries with numerous solicitors firms no one would take the case as "there was no money in it." Having contacted Mackrell Marsh & Co, leave to appeal out of time was granted and a successful appeal was achieved, resulting in the client being able to return to voluntary work.

R v J
Facing allegations of causing an accident by parking in a dangerous position our client a local businessman could have lost his license and possibly his business. Our negotiations with the prosecution led to the matter being discontinued.

R v R
In a case that spanned the country our client was charged with 9 counts of armed robbery targeting post offices at gunpoint. He pleaded guilty to the charges and received a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 12 years. We appealed this sentence and it was upheld reducing the minimum tariff to 8 years.   

R v C
Our client, part of the traveller community, was charged with a vicious assault causing actual bodily harm with another. Due to meticulous trial preparation and skilled advocacy our client was acquitted.

R v M
We represented a man charged with high level fraud of £750,000 which included using fraudulent identity documents. We managed to negotiate a reduction in the number of charges and as a result received a sentence of 3.5 years, avoiding a potential sentence bordering on double figures. 

R v D
The firm acted in a high profile murder case that received national media coverage. the defendant was convicted despite the technical defence of "loss of control" being raised.