Client acquitted of all charges in kidnap, false imprisonment and blackmail case

We represented a male of good character, who was 18 years old at the time of the allegations. He faced an indictment containing two counts of kidnap, two counts of false imprisonment and one count of blackmail. There were 3 co-defendants in the case facing similar counts.
We made a successful bail application in the Crown Court, allowing our client, who had never been in custody before, to return to his family while the proceedings were ongoing.

His first trial was listed in September 2019. Unfortunately, as a result of issues with the jury, the jury were discharged after day 7 and the case was relisted for trial in March 2020. Once more, the jury had to be discharged on day 17, this time due to the covid-19 pandemic. The next trial commenced in January 2022 and ran for 25 days. At the conclusion the jury acquitted our client of all charges. Our client, who had reached the age of 21 by the time these proceedings concluded was overjoyed.

Beth O’Reilly and Monica Stevenson represented at first trial, Beth O’Reilly and Henry Dickson represented at second trial, and Warwick Aleeson and Henry Dickson represented at the final trial. The solicitor with conduct of this case was Head of Litigation Amy Cox. She supported her client and their family throughout the entire process, providing continuity of representation throughout the 3 trials, which was much needed by this young defendant. Our client was quick to express his sincere gratitude:

“Thank you so much for everything. Of course if it wasn’t for you this couldn’t have happened so thank you so much… and for still believing me… even though [..] all the difficulties. I can’t thank you enough. Thank you.”