Summary
Our client was arrested and charged with one count of assault by beating after a member of the public reported an assault to the police. Although our client was initially represented by the Duty Solicitor, whereby he entered a guilty plea, he later transferred to Lawtons on a privately funded basis. When sentenced at Luton Magistrates Court, our client was sentenced to a 12-month community order, avoiding a prison sentence.
Case Details
The incident was recorded on a mobile phone by a member of the public, where our client can be seen assaulting the victim. This included pushing, kicking and headbutting the victim before the Police arrived and arrested our client.
Despite the video evidence from the witness and CCTV evidence, the victim denied any assault had taken place and was not supportive of Police proceedings. As a result, the Police’s investigation relied solely on witness statements and CCTV footage.
Our Defence
After being charged, our client was remanded to court where he entered a guilty plea acting on the advice of the Duty Solicitor. After he had then been released on bail for sentencing, he transferred to Lawtons where he was represented on a privately funded basis by Partner Dawn McKnight.
Considering the circumstances of the assault, Dawn advised our client that he was at risk of receiving a custodial sentence. Based on the sentencing guidelines, the starting point for an offence of this kind was a high-level community order, ranging up to 26 weeks’ custody. Due to the aggravating factor that the assault was committed in a domestic violence context with the presence of both headbutting and kicking, the risk of a prison sentence was high.
At Luton Magistrates Court, Dawn mitigated on behalf of our client, outlining his genuine remorse for his behaviour. A Pre-Sentence Report was presented to the Magistrates, which suggested a recommended sentence of a 12-month community order.
After some consideration, the Magistrates agreed that a custodial sentence was not appropriate for this case and agreed to the recommended sentence advocated by Dawn. In addition to the community order, our client was also sentenced to 30 days’ rehabilitation activity requirement and 100 hours of unpaid work.
Client Testimonial
Our client was extremely grateful to Dawn for the strength of her representations in court, which had ultimately helped to secure a non-custodial sentence.
“I used Dawn McKnight from Lawtons Solicitors for my sentencing hearing and the solicitor was really helpful and polite and they did an amazing job. Highly recommend them to people! Had a great outcome!”
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