Offer No Evidence Following Abuse of Process Argument

Our client was arrested for possession of a bladed article in a public place in January 2021. He provided a defence in interview, and the police decided to take no further action and released him from police custody. In June 2021, our client received a postal charge for this offence. The police had reviewed the case and decided to charge our client.

Our client pleaded not guilty and elected a Crown Court trial. In preparing for this trial, this firm served an abuse of process written argument to the prosecution. We argued that proceeding with this case would offend the Court’s sense of justice, as our client had been induced to believe the police were not prosecuting him. Our client had a legitimate expectation arising from the decision to close the case upon his arrest. Further, the police had not obtained further evidence or made relevant line of enquires that were raised in our client’s interview. We argued that these decisions had disproportionately impacted our client.

The prosecution did not respond to our written argument, and instead the case was listed where they offered no evidence. At this hearing, the prosecution accepted that continuing any prosecution would amount to an abuse of process in this case. Our client was extremely pleased with this result.

Victoria Jackson prepared this case and Conall Bailie of 2 Bedford Row was counsel.