Is it easy to appeal a magistrates court decision without legal representation

[Deltic Bouy]

I was last week convicted of Harassment against my former partner and got a conditional discharge, however 2 major issues appear which I don't feel were given due consideration by the magistrates.
Firstly the offences listed stated that they occurred on 2 specific dates and not between 2 dates one of the charges related to phone voicemails left on one of those dates however during the trial the prosecution played voicemails left on a different date and as I didn't realise that these voicemails were from a different date until after spending 30 minutes or so in the dock being being questioned about these before the prosecution revealed that these were not in fact from a different date this after they tried to shut me down on raising the inappropriate behavior of my former Partner which had caused me to leave the voicemails which had included her intimidating a friend of mine.
Secondly the written statement read out from one of her witnesses were grossly untrue and when I raised this stating I had 3 witnesses who could prove my point on this fact it was disregarded as I had not brought those witnesses as I had been told they would not be needed and also copies of emails and messages received from this person and others were also stopped from being allowed as evidence again because I was told they would not be needed so again I feel I was badly advised.
I feel had I been better advised on the evidence matters and had the matter of evidence which was not allowed as it did not relate to the dates listed on the charge then the outcome of the magistrates hearing would have been very different.
Again local legal advise says that I should be aware that the crown court could increase the punishment for the charge and moreover that the prosecution could at crown court realise their mistake regarding dates and change the details of the charge, is this correct? Could they increase the my punishment and could the prosecution change the details of the charge before going to appeal?
Moreover is it allowed for me to go to appeal without Legal Representation?
Do those with experience feel I have a good enough reason to go to appeal with the above?
If I paid for representation and won my appeal would I be able to claim the cost of my legal representation back?

[outlawlgo]

...Secondly the written statement read out from one of her witnesses were grossly untrue and when I raised this stating I had 3 witnesses who could prove my point on this fact it was disregarded as I had not brought those witnesses as I had been told they would not be needed and also copies of emails and messages received from this person and others were also stopped from being allowed as evidence again because I was told they would not be needed so again I feel I was badly advised.
I feel had I been better advised on the evidence matters and had the matter of evidence which was not allowed as it did not relate to the dates listed on the charge then the outcome of the magistrates hearing would have been very different....

I get a sense you've been kept in the dark and denied being informed of your legal rights.

The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 is the main piece of legislation dealing with this (see below link)

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/25/contents

However, a Code of Practice is issued under Part II of the Act and might be a more user friendly option to begin looking to see if you have been unfairly/unlawfully treated by the prosecution

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...e-approved.pdf

[Deltic Bouy]

I get a sense you've been kept in the dark and denied being informed of your legal rights.

The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 is the main piece of legislation dealing with this (see below link)

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/25/contents

However, a Code of Practice is issued under Part II of the Act and might be a more user friendly option to begin looking to see if you have been unfairly/unlawfully treated by the prosecution

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...e-approved.pdf

Thanks for your response, obviously as a lay person I can only work on my gut instinct, are you saying that I should have been given the opportunity to see and hear the evidence they actually intended to use in court, in particular the voicemails being played?
I did have the statements supplied and told they would play the voicemails though given the charge was voicemails on the charge sheet were different from the date of the voicemails played which were NOT on the charge sheet and indeed given so much going on when they started playing the voicemails in court I assumed they were the ones from the charged date and tried to explain the circumstances that led to that incident and was only after some 30-40 minutes in the witness box the CPS prosecutor tried to put me off my defense by revealing that these were actually from a different date which sort of made me look a fool.
Do you think that this procedural error which I feel is the main thrust of my appeal is good enough to appeal on?
I have confirmed that my 3 witnesses who will discredit the evidence of her friend are more than willing to attend too.

[outlawlgo]

I can't give any advice or recommendation which is relevant to your particular case. I am only familiar with the disclosure (of evidence) procedures and legislation from having quite comprehensively researched it, hence the suggestion that you refer to it and decide yourself if you have been denied a fair trial.

The rules change (obligation of the prosecution) depending on whether the accused has indicated that a not guilty plea will be entered at the hearing (paragraph 10.1 of the Code of Practice).

It is also relevant whether the accused submits a defence statement within the statutory time limits (optional in the Magistrates' court) because this affects his legal rights regarding future stages of the process, for example, calling a defence witness etc. etc. However, the prosecution is obliged to serve on the defence a letter (to defence where there is material to disclose) under section 3 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA).

I can not advise whether an appeal should be made to the Crown court, though I understand there is a 21 day time limit to appeal, after which an application for permission must be made for an extension of time which can only be granted by the Crown Court.

...Do you think that this procedural error which I feel is the main thrust of my appeal is good enough to appeal on?
I have confirmed that my 3 witnesses who will discredit the evidence of her friend are more than willing to attend too.

There is something in the CPIA (section 10) relating to the prosecution failing to observe time limits in respect of the denial of a fair trial, however, there is a protocol "management of evidential material" published by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) which sets out in page 4 some issues surrounding breaching the CPIA regarding the right to a fair trial in the way evidence is dealt with.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/reque...20MATERIAL.pdf

Also might be worth a read:

Crown Prosecution Service guidance (abuse of process)
https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/abuse-process

[Deltic Bouy]

Thanks for the explanation and I appreciate you cannot comment specifically on my case but do you feel I would be correct to assume that as the charge of the phone messages on the charge sheet related to a specific date that the prosecution were in breach of the rules on producing evidence to use messages from a totally different day and moreover not making it clear when they disclosed this evidence that they would be using voice recordings the date of these recordings rather than only disclosing the actual date after subjecting the court to hearing 12 mins of messages and then questioning myself on these for around an hour before revealing the date to both myself and the court and then being allowed to continue to question me on the same for around another 30 minutes whilst any questioning relating to the date in question was limited to the statement of a witness which was factually untrue and around 5 minutes of questioning?

[outlawlgo]

This might not be much help on your specific point but there are a couple of documents you might find useful to refer to at some stage.

See paragraph 28 of of Magistrates' Court Disclosure Review (May 2014)

https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-cont...ure-Review.pdf

You can download the revised Disclosure Manual (26 February 2018) from The Crown Prosecution Service website here:

https://www.cps.gov.uk/sites/default...20Manual_0.pdf

[Nikolai]

Please be aware that if you appeal your conviction it will take the form of a re-hearing at the Crown Court before a judge and usually 2 magistrates who are not connected with your case. As it is a rehearing the prosecution will not be bound by what happened in the Magistrates Court and can present their case however they want. There are risks for you in appealing. If you lose the Crown Court can give you a higher sentence. They are not bound by the sentence the Magistrates gave you. They can also order you to pay costs which could be substantial. Think hard before proceeding unrepresented. You are entitled to do so, but consider getting advice from a criminal law solicitor before going further with this. Paying for a half hour's advice may be money well spent.

[des8]

If appealing conviction the sentence will not be changed if you lose, otherwise I endorse all that Nikolai states