Finance Professional avoids prison for indecent images

Case study summary

We represented a professional man who had never been in trouble before. He had struggled with his mental health and viewed indecent images. Our expert team successfully argued that he should not go to prison and he was able to move forward with his life and remain with his family

Case study

Our client was a professional man working in the Finance sector. He was a family man and had never been in trouble with the police in his entire life.

He contacted us after he had been arrested for possession of Indecent Images, and was still under investigation. After we had carefully listened to his side of the story, it was clear that he fully admitted wrongdoing.

However, what also became clear was that he had been going through many personal difficulties which led to his offending, but he hugely regretted what he had done, was genuinely remorseful, and he was taking steps to rehabilitate himself. It also became clear that he did not pose any type of risk to anybody.

He was eventually charged with Making Indecent Images contrary to s.1(1)(a) and 6 of the Protection of Children Act 1978. Even though he accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty to these charges, the battle was not over for us as he was at serious risk of going to prison. We carefully prepared his mitigation, and instructed an expert barrister to argue on his behalf in court. We had to consider the key features that 'aggravated' his sentence, and make sure that we had all of the relevant information and arguments to counter these.

Eventually, we persuaded the Crown Court Judge not to impose an immediate custodial sentence. This meant our client did not go to prison, and was able to remain with his family and continue to be able to provide for them.