Not every case is about ‘winning’, which is often only seen as a not guilty verdict. Winning is to achieve the best result for the client in the circumstances they find themselves in. We need to give credit for the many hours that are put into a sentencing hearing to ensure that the court has all the available information about a client; perusing hours of unused CCTV material to demonstrate that there was an earlier incident in which the complainant was the aggressor (deciding if this was aggravating or helpful), obtaining GP and prison records and deciding what helps and what doesn’t, obtaining a psychological report, contacting HMPS staff employees for references / certificates, contacting the client’s children’s schools for references, assisting the emotional client and family with letters to the Judge…we could go on. But it is all worth it when it results in a favourable sentence.
Melissa Ansah and Alexandra Monaghan of Crucible Chambers represented a 35 year old client for section 18 GBH, during which a knife was used to cause facial injuries to the complainant. This facts of this case pointed to a Category 1A on the sentencing guidelines and indeed this was where the Crown placed it, giving the case a starting point of 12 years and a range of 10 to 16 years. The client was advised prior to PTPH and pleaded guilty. Ultimately, due to careful and thorough preparation, the sentence that our client received was 4 years 3 months.
