General Criminal Matters

In this case, the charge was at first sight particularly minor. The penalty was hardly worth a mention. But the consequences of a conviction were life changing. Thus the pressure on the solicitor, Rajesh Bhamm, was immense – to win the case at all costs. X was a person of good character and a trainee solicitor of a reputable corporate practice. X was alleged to have used her sisters blue badge fraudulently, having parked in a disabled bay without her sister present. X had made full admissions in a roadside interview under caution with the fraud inspector. At trial, Rajesh successfully put forward that although X had parked in the disabled bay without her sister being with her, as she was going to drop her sister home some hours later, no offence had been committed. The trial largely hinged on the successful cross-examination of the fraud inspector, who admitted that his note of the roadside interview was not verbatim. If convicted, X would have almost certainly have been denied onto the roll of solicitors, as the offence is one of dishonesty.

The Defendant had been involved in a toxic marriage break up, and his estranged wife had made a number of allegations against him including harassment and a low level assault. At the point of instructing Tank Jowett Solicitors, C had been at his wits end; his solicitors in Gloucester seemed disinterested in his case, and he was facing 2 separate magistrates court trials. Simon Jowett took over his case. What was immediately apparent was that it was impossible to ignore the benefits to his estranged partner in the family proceedings, in preventing him from seeing his children, that the criminal proceedings were ongoing. Upon analysing the evidence, it became clear that the alleged victim had made conflicting allegations, and had left out major gaps in her accounts. In short, this was an unpleasant war between two parties in a sad marriage breakdown, and the complainant was clearly using the police to advance her own agenda. Detailed written representations were made to the Crown Prosecution Service. A senior prosecutor reviewed the evidence – and discontinued both charges.