Magistrates Court Decision :-(

[TTB14]

Hi,



A Magistrates court has found a family member Guilty regarding a child related matter (her son had a bruise on his face). She has to return for sentencing in the next couple of weeks.



The defendant is adament she has not committed the crime, and as such is not happy at the situation, naturally.



The court appeared to make the decision based solely on the medical evidence from the hospital and a doctor.



Is there anything we can do to appeal this decision? The medical facts show that something happened, but not who did it, surely? I beleive my family member did not commit this, and as such I want to help her resolve it.



The family that instigated this is her previous partners family, (the father of the child involved). She is the mother, but no longer sees or gets on with the father. The family has always said they will get custody of the child involved, and it looks like they are succeeding.



Please, anyone, provide me with some information that will assist in how to take this forward. I firmly beleive this did not happen in the care of my family member, and that this has all been instigated from the fathers family.

[stevemLS]

Re: Magistrates Court Decision :-(

She can appeal against the conviction to the Crown Court.

She will need a solicitor/barrister and would be well advised to consult a solicitor on the merits of appealing.

She only has 21 days from the date of conviction to lodge the Notice of Appeal, other than the Crown Court can extend that (which would only involve further expense).

The Notice of Appeal is here http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pro...pealnotice.pdf, it has to be served on the Magistrates Court and the CPS. You might also want to look at Part 63 of the Criminal Procedure Rules, which is here http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pro...13-part-63.pdf

Good luck

[TTB14]

Re: Magistrates Court Decision :-(

She can appeal against the conviction to the Crown Court.

She will need a solicitor/barrister and would be well advised to consult a solicitor on the merits of appealing.

She only has 21 days from the date of conviction to lodge the Notice of Appeal, other than the Crown Court can extend that (which would only involve further expense).

The Notice of Appeal is here http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pro...pealnotice.pdf, it has to be served on the Magistrates Court and the CPS. You might also want to look at Part 63 of the Criminal Procedure Rules, which is here http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pro...13-part-63.pdf

Good luck

Thank you for the response. it is much appreciated.

I have advised her to appeal and will be filling in the form shortly.

The case against her consists of the family that hated her from the beginning, and the evidence of a medical professional stating the injury was within the window the child was in her care. In this regard, her defence, which had no witnesses (Nobody was there when it supposedly happened, so she has nobody to back her up), is just that - her word against theirs.

Surely there has to be more to a case than "It could have happened during this time, and you could have done it, so we find you guilty"? As it stands, this is where it is at, and I don't want to see her, and the rest of his family unable to see him for the rest of his childhood life.

[stevemLS]

Re: Magistrates Court Decision :-(

Whatever your view of the evidence, I am afraid that the bench of magistrates were convinced that it proved "beyond reasonable doubt" that the defendant was guilty of the offence.

How old is the child? Does your family member have residence?

I'm afraid the source of the complaint is largely irrelevant unless it can be PROVED that it was motivated by malice.

Did she have a solicitor acting for her in the Magistrates Court? If so, they are best placed to advise on the merits.

There should have been advanced disclosure of the evidence/statements etc on which the prosecution relied, did that happen.

As I said before, it really is worth paying a solicitor to advise on the merits of appealing and to do so BEFORE the Notice of Appeal is lodged, so that you can get guidance on the grounds if she decides to proceed. By all means go with her to that appointment if she is agreeable, two heads really can be better than one.

[TTB14]

Re: Magistrates Court Decision :-(

Whatever your view of the evidence, I am afraid that the bench of magistrates were convinced that it proved "beyond reasonable doubt" that the defendant was guilty of the offence.

How old is the child? Does your family member have residence?

I'm afraid the source of the complaint is largely irrelevant unless it can be PROVED that it was motivated by malice.

Did she have a solicitor acting for her in the Magistrates Court? If so, they are best placed to advise on the merits.

There should have been advanced disclosure of the evidence/statements etc on which the prosecution relied, did that happen.

As I said before, it really is worth paying a solicitor to advise on the merits of appealing and to do so BEFORE the Notice of Appeal is lodged, so that you can get guidance on the grounds if she decides to proceed. By all means go with her to that appointment if she is agreeable, two heads really can be better than one.

The child is four now, and "lives" with the other side of the family, the side that, from birth, said they would get custody of him one way or another. That appears to have succeeded. We have to know a month in advance if we want to see him, and even then, we have two hours, 100 miles away from where we live. It is a messy situation, all instigated by the family that have celebrated todays outcome in court in a very public way (Think internet, social networks, etc).

Her solicitor was there yes, but does not appear to have put forward a good enough defence. I feel truly sorry for my family member as it is a case of "Rich family with lots of witnesses against a 23 year old mother with no witnesses".

[stevemLS]

Re: Magistrates Court Decision :-(

Re-reading my last post, I may have come over a little blunt, apologies if that's how it seemed.

Again, you have my sympathy but what I have described is the reality of the criminal justice system. She really does need to go back to the solicitor that represented her for advise on the merits and grounds of any appeal.

When you say they had lots of witnesses, what were they actually witness too? Presumably that the child didn't have a bruise when the mother took custody of him/her and that it did when returned?

Courts will bend over backwards though to maintain contact between parents and children so it may be a little reassuring to know that what sounds like a minor injury and this conviction does not necessarily mean an end to the contact although she may have to put up with it being supervised for a while.

[TTB14]

Re: Magistrates Court Decision :-(

Re-reading my last post, I may have come over a little blunt, apologies if that's how it seemed.

Again, you have my sympathy but what I have described is the reality of the criminal justice system. She really does need to go back to the solicitor that represented her for advise on the merits and grounds of any appeal.

When you say they had lots of witnesses, what were they actually witness too? Presumably that the child didn't have a bruise when the mother took custody of him/her and that it did when returned?

Courts will bend over backwards though to maintain contact between parents and children so it may be a little reassuring to know that what sounds like a minor injury and this conviction does not necessarily mean an end to the contact although she may have to put up with it being supervised for a while.

Don't worry about it, I didn't take it as anything other than advice. Appreciated.

Nobody is a witness to what happened, as that is the issue at hand - nobody is willing to admit where it happened. The argument against is that he came back "with a mark" and the Hospital then took various photos etc, all of which have been used as evidence AGAINST the family member. However, no witnesses actually WITNESSED any event, so on that ground, nobody actually knows.

It has been said she won't be able to see him until he is 18 which is distressing, to say the least. We want this resolving, but it appears the world is against her and she has no fight to give.

[leclerc]

Re: Magistrates Court Decision :-(

Ok, I've joined this late and was sure I knew of a solicitor who deals with Non Accidental Injury. The problem is that currently Legal Aid makes it a biatch to change solicitors.

I'll give you the website for Brendan Fleming and it's up to you what you do with it. They might not be able to help with the case in hand, but might in relation to the family law case with the father of the child.
Hope that helps.

http://www.brendanfleming.co.uk/