Pre-Charge Engagement Case Studies

In the last week four different types of cases were no further actioned by the police in part due to pre-charge representations and engagements we undertook.  We look at what factors were relevant in each case.

Mr W

Was investigated by the police for an allegation of assault of his ex-partner. The police had a statement from her and corroborative evidence from a paramedic and a witness who saw part of the incident. A case like this would usually be charged on that amount of evidence. What we did to assist

• We liaised with the police to suggest a number of lines of enquiry that would benefit us.
• We drew police attention to a previous incident where the client had called the police due to the complainant assaulting him.
• We obtained a number of character references to underline the facts that he was a credible witness
• We asked the police to obtain CCTV footage from the scene of the allegation. The police wrongly thought the incident took place at a different location and then finally combining all the above and additional points, we made pre-charge representations that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prosecute and then these representations were successful.

Mr X

Was investigated for an allegation of rape following the breakup with his wife.  Mr X denied the allegation and suggested it was malicious as his ex-wife failed to cope with the breakdown of their relationship. What we did to assist

• We obtained a detailed statement from the client and his two sisters
• We obtained a number of witness statements from other parties including the complainant’s ex-boyfriend

The witnesses we spoke to all described unusual behaviour from the complainant. Due to this we asked a psychologist to look at the behaviour and comment upon whether or not the complainant may have a psychological or psychiatric condition The psychologist concluded that due to the behaviour described, the complainant had either a personality disorder or mental health condition. We forwarded all this material to the police and the police dropped the case without referring it to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Mr Y

Was investigated for a police assault following an incident at a bar after a wake.  There was a disturbance between two other people and the client intervened to calm things down as a police officer attended.  It was alleged by the police officer that he had pushed the officer back as he tried to intervene. This was denied What we did to assist

• We obtained witness statements from 5 independent witnesses
• We obtained CCTV footage of the incident and

Made representations to the police that there was insufficient evidence to proceed.  The case was duly dropped.  It is likely that the case would have been prosecuted had we not made the representations.

Mr Z

A soldier was investigated for an allegation of rape against an ex-girlfriend.  She alleged that he had raped her the first night they were together and on a couple of occasions subsequently whilst he stayed with her at her parent’s house. He denied the allegation and stated that all sexual activity was consensual and suggested that the complainant had fabricated the allegation following being upset at the breakdown of the relationship. What we did to assist

• We liaised with the police to enable them access a number of witnesses that were of assistance to us
• We sent the police a number of items as part of pre-charge engagement that corroborated the account that he put forward in interview
• We collated a number of character witnesses and forwarded them to the police
• We requested a number of lines of enquiry that we thought would benefit the client

As a consequence of liaising with the police expeditiously the police were able to drop the case within a number of weeks following the interview. This enabled him to put this behind him and get on with his career The cases above show that similar cases are not alike and have to be dealt differently. Any work done on the case is bespoke and is based on the specific response needed in that case.