A Case Study
The police stopped Charlie Ritcher in central London and accused him of using his mobile phone whilst driving. (This was an allegation of using the phone to have a conversation as opposed to using it as a sat nav). One officer claimed he had watched as Charlie drove by with the phone to his ear. Charlie and his passenger denied it from the outset. Charlie’s father, Geoffrey Ritcher, contacted me and asked what he should do.
The Advice
Geoffrey had worked for solicitors in the past and was able to undertake the preparatory work himself. Consequently, I advised him to take detailed witness statements from his son and passenger whilst the details were still fresh in the memory. Then, father and son came to see me. I took down detailed instructions and tendered advice on case preparation. Based upon what I had been told I advised on completion of the Single Justice Notice Procedure Form setting out the basis of the defence, which witnesses we would be calling and how we challenged the police case. This was important in that certain matters were put formally on the record by the way this Notice was completed.
The Hearing
8 months had elapsed from the time of the incident until the day of the trial. We attended at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court in central London. We all met very shortly after 0900 hours at court. We were first to arrive and sign in with the court usher. There were 4 matters listed in the trial court at 10 am. Clearly, there would not be time for all 4 matters to be heard and some might have to be adjourned. Consequently, we had arrived early in the hope we would be called on first. We were. The case was heard. We won and Charlie was acquitted with reputation fully intact.
Conclusion
Early case preparation whilst matters were still fresh in the memory can be critical in providing the basis for a solid defence. In this case, we were much better prepared than the CPS who were outmanoeuvred and, frankly, embarrassed in court. Charlie was kind enough to post a testimonial the same day:
‘…Sunil presented my case fantastically and got the result I was hoping for. I was found not guilty. I would just like to say a huge thank you and I would highly recommend Sunil at Kent traffic law.’
Geoffrey emailed me the next day: ‘Just wanted to write and thank you once again for making sure Charlie had a voice in court yesterday, we could not have done it without you. Charlie was amazed at your performance so much so that he said he wished he could have been a barrister, you really impressed him!’
My partner and I stumbled over here from a different website and thought I should check things out, there is a lot of useful stuff here should I ever get into legal troubles on the road.
Thanks. If you’re interested I have posted two articles in the last week or so on the blog page. One regarding the risk of prison for those who try to pervert the course of justice and the other a case study on how one of my clients avoided a speeding ban.
Good to know this kind of information.
I hope you think this one is even more interesting. You can read it here.
You’ve made some good points there. I looked on the elsewhere
for more info but had trouble finding any.
Sorry for the delay. I am going to reply to all comments expeditiously from now on. If you are interested in this topic there has been a new case which has clarified the law on this topic. I have written another article on it which you can read if you are interested here.
I blog often and I genuinely appreciate your content.
This great article has really peaked my interest. I will take a note
of your blog and keep checking for new details about
once per week. I opted in for your Feed too.
Sorry for the delayed response but I really appreciate your comments. If you are interested in mobile phone articles you may be interested to know that there has been a new High Court case recently which has clarified the law on this topic. You can read about it here.
fantastic issues altogether, you simply received a emblem new reader.
If you liked that you may like to read this article for the latest case law on mobile phone use here
Yes, a lot, which is why I must apologise for falling behind with my responses. Just writing the blogs is time consuming but if you are also trying to run a business at the same time it is hard. If you are interested in this topic you can read my latest blog on it here.
So sorry about my delay in responding. I am going to try to keep up to date weekly from now on. If you are interested in the latest development in this field you can read about it here.
Sorry for the delayed response. If you are intersted I have written an article on the latest development in this field. YOu can read about it here.
Belated thank you for that. If you are interested in the latest development in this field you can read about it here.
Hey, a belated thank you. If you’re interested in the latest development in this field you can read about it here.
I am sorry but I am not a techy chap and so I needed (and need) a lot of help to run this site. However, If you get yourself a simple wordpress website you can start writing blogs and responding to comments like this.
I am glad you found the information useful. Thank you for your comment.