Youth Client Receives Referral Order for Robbery

Case study summary

Our client was the youngest of a group of youths who had committed a robbery. He was understandably terrified at what the outcome would be, and the impact this would have on his life, as robbery is a serious offence. We persuaded the court to impose a referral order.

Case study

We represented our client at the police station following his arrest by the police. Prior to his interview under caution, he told us that he accepted what he was accused of doing and showed immense remorse for what had happened. The case was then further investigated by the police, which included lengthy telephone based enquiries. We supported our client throughout the investigation.

When our client was eventually charged with robbery, he proved himself to be a far more grown-up, and responsible, young man. He had successfully taken steps to turn his life around and was focusing on his education and love for football and sports. Our aim was to ensure that the outcome of this case did not impact his future and the progress he had already made.

Our client entered a guilty plea and we prepared for him to be sentenced. We arranged for a specialist psychiatrist to assess him and provide a detailed report which commented on the effect his diagnosis of ADHD would have had on his behaviour at the time of the offending. This report, in addition to the rest of our client's personal mitigation which we had obtained, was provided to the District Judge at the sentencing hearing by one of our experienced court representatives and it was clear that the Judge was impressed. We successfully persuaded her to impose a nine-month referral order.

Our client and his family were extremely pleased with the result as it meant that our client was able to continue with the significant progress he had made to his life without this case hanging over his head.