Arson with Intent to Endanger Life – Case Dropped

Case study summary

Our client was an asylum seeker who had been accused of setting fire to his deportation papers and having a knife in a public place. Whilst the evidence against our client was strong, we persuaded the police to drop the case given the difficult circumstances he faced.

Case study

Our specialist defence lawyers represented an asylum seeker who had received negative news about his asylum application. The client was in an extremely vulnerable position as he had been arrested for the first time and spoke no English.

He had been accused of setting fire to his immigration papers in his hotel room and the police said that this had endangered life. The evidence against the client was strong as there were multiple witnesses and he made some admissions to the police before we took over the case.

When he arrived at the police station, the police found one knife in his bag and one knife in his pocket. This was a further offence and made the case much more serious.

This was clearly a very sensitive and difficult situation. Criminal convictions would have a negative effect on any future immigration application that our client made so it was important that every option was explored in his defence.

We negotiated with the officers and persuaded them that, given the client's imminent deportation and the unusual circumstances, there was no need to take this case any further.

Whilst our client still has his immigration case to fight, he will not have the criminal case hanging over his head and is now in a much better position.