Vulnerable Client has Sexual Assault Charge Dropped

Case study summary

Our client was an alcoholic who committed sexual offences, criminal damage and battery whilst in hospital. However, he had remained sober ever since the offending. We persuaded the prosecution to drop the sexual offences which resulted in our client avoiding a prison sentence.

Case study

Our client was an alcoholic who had struggled with alcohol misuse for approximately 6 years. He would drink alcohol until he became too unwell to continue drinking. He then began to withdraw from the alcohol which caused seizures and led to him being admitted to hospital. This was a vicious cycle which resulted in our client being admitted to hospital in June 2021. Whilst in hospital, he was accused of touching a nurse's breast and then grabbing her wrist as she tried to escape, exposing his penis to another nurse and damaging hospital property.

Our client contacted us and asked us to represent him because he had seen our reviews online. He explained that he simply did not remember the events of the night but it sounded completely out of character for him. In all of the 6 years he had suffered with alcohol dependency, he had never assaulted anyone until the events in 2021. Furthermore, since his admission to hospital in June 2021, our client had spent 6 months in a rehabilitation centre and, by the time of his first court hearing, he had been sober for 12 months.

We instructed an expert to comment on our client's alcoholism, the impact that this would have had on his offending and the progress he had made with his recovery since. We also selected an experienced and trusted barrister to represent our client at court and, as a team, we were able to strike a deal with the prosecution which confirmed that, if our client was to continue making progress with his recovery, they would accept guilty pleas to the battery and criminal damage charges but they would drop the more serious charges of sexual assault and exposure. This significantly reduced the chances of our client receiving a prison sentence.

At the sentence hearing, we relied on evidence of our client's good character as well as the efforts he had made to remain sober since his release from rehab. The judge imposed a 12-month community order with a requirement to complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days which meant that our client would continue to receive support with his recovery in the community. No additional punitive element was imposed because the judge appreciated the exceptional circumstances of the case which we had highlighted to them. Our client was extremely relieved and he looked forward to remaining abstinent and being able to go back to his job as a carpenter for the first time in 6 years.