Man avoids prison after wielding a bladed article.

Case study summary

Our client was a young man. He had a troubled past of substance abuse and mental health issues and, at the time of the offence, was in turmoil due to a bereavement. These circumstances led to him behaving out of character. We persuaded the court he should not go to prison.

Case study

Our client had been charged with one count of wielding a bladed article in a public place after he entered a newsagent wielding an axe. He pleaded guilty to this offence and faced a prison sentence.

Our client was a mentally vulnerable man. He had been taking antidepressants and anxiety medication for many years. His girlfriend was the victim of sexual abuse as a child and had committed suicide two weeks prior to the offence. He was in emotional turmoil after her death and stopped taking his medication. He began drinking heavily and using drugs in order to cope with the loss.

In this moment of crisis, our client turned to specialist lawyers. We assembled a team that was dedicated to achieving the result he desired – a non-custodial sentence. We obtained a clear package of mitigation; he was suffering from bereavement at the time, he was not taking his medication and he had turned to substance abuse.

This is an offence which is treated very seriously by the courts at the moment, particularly because of the sharp rise of knife crime in recent years. However, using the evidence we had gathered, our in-house advocate was able to put forward this mitigation in a clear and persuasive way to the court. They accepted these submissions and deemed that it would be unjust to send our client to prison, suspending his sentence and ordering that he take part in rehabilitation activities.

Our proactive and compassionate approach ensured that our client was able to get the treatment that he clearly required.