Mother Accused of Harassing Daughter - Police Drop Case

Case study summary

Our client was accused of harassing her daughter by making unwanted phone calls and going to her work place. At the police interview, we persuaded the police that the issue should not be a criminal matter as it could be resolved through the family courts. The case was dropped.

Case study

Our client was a mother to two daughters. In October 2022, her eldest daughter reported her to the police for harassment. Our client was accused of making numerous unwanted telephone calls to her daughter using No Caller ID and attending her daughter's place of work which caused her daughter to run away in a distressed state. The police confirmed that there was CCTV footage which supported our client's daughter's account.

Our client contacted us and asked us to represent her at her police interview. She was distressed because she had never been interviewed by the police before. She admitted the allegations but said that she had not intended to cause her daughter any distress. She explained that her relationship with her daughter deteriorated following the end of her relationship with her daughter's father. Our client's daughter moved to her father's house and stopped all contact with her mother.

In October 2022, our client's daughter contacted her younger sister and her grandmother who lived with our client. Our client thought that her daughter was attempting to contact them and return to live with them so she tried to call her daughter. When she was unable to reach her daughter via telephone, she went to check on her at her place of work. Our client did not intend to cause any distress to her daughter but, despite this, her daughter still reported her to the police.

We represented our client at her police interview. We recognised that it was a stressful situation for her and ensured that she knew what to expect before arriving at the police station. At the interview, we provided our expert legal advice and also made representations to the police with a view to persuade them that this was not a criminal matter and an outcome which was beneficial for all parties could instead be achieved through the family courts. The police agreed and decided to take no further action against our client.

Our client was relieved and hopes to resolve the family dispute with the help of the family courts.