Man Accused of Threatening Behaviour – Case Dropped

Case study summary

Our client was charged after allegedly threatening bar staff. He was struggling to cope with the stress of a trial, so he contacted our specialist criminal lawyers to assist him. We persuaded the prosecution to drop the case two days before trial.

Case study

Our client approached us having recently been charged with a public order offence. He had been accused of using abusive language and threatening staff members at a bar on Market Street, in Manchester.

He had learning difficulties and lived in supported accommodation. He found the whole process of a criminal court case daunting and it had been a great source of anxiety for him and his family members.

During his initial interview with the police, officers failed to produce any evidence to explain why they thought our client was the man making abusive comments in the bar. There was no identification evidence and the bar staff did not name him. In the absence of any evidence against him, he had just assumed the case would be dropped.

The client was then shocked when he was charged and quickly contacted our firm to take over the case. We saw that the prosecution simply did not have any evidence against our client and that he should never have been charged.

We took a two-stage approach: One on the one hand, we prepared to fight the case at trial but on the other, we began to pressure the Crown Prosecution Service to drop the case. The prosecution did not accept that they had made the wrong decision, but we continued to negotiate with them until they realised that they did not have a case and had no choice but to drop it, just days before the trial.

Thanks to our proactive approach, our client avoided the trauma and distress that a trial would have caused. He and his family were able to move quickly past this difficult time in their lives.