Tweet
Hi guys,
I’m in the process of appealing my sentence and conviction with the court of appeal. I’m currently replying to the CPS who have responded to the appeal claim. I would like help fleshing out the grounds for appeal and help highlighting any key or relevant points.
My claim to appeal is on the basis of poor representation, fairness and proportionality.
My case:
In 2000, I exposed myself to two female classmates at a bus stop outside of our school. All three of us were aged 12 at the time.
I was arrested and advised not to answer police questions.
I was later advised to plead guilty to 2 counts of gross indecency with a child at the Crown Court.
I was sentenced to an 18 month supervision order and placed on the sex offenders register for 5 years.
I believe the advice given to not answer police questions when arrested was inappropriate. I’d argue counsel should have advised me to cooperate with police early to resolve the matter before court.
I was advised by counsel to plead guilty to a sex crime, gross indecency with a child. As confirmed in my pre-sentencing reports, I had not started puberty and was immature for my age. I’d argue as a child, I could not have had a sexual motivation to commit the act and therefore should not be found guilty of it.
However, pleading guilty did not allow for any mitigating factors to be heard. Furthermore, the long term implications of the guilty plea were not communicated to me. Counsel advised that pleading guilty would be looked at favourably by the judge, the trial process would be speedy and that my conviction would eventually be spent and removed from my record.
During this period I was unable to return to school and eager and to resume my education so I accepted.
I was unable to return back to my previous school due to the conviction.
I was sentenced to 18 month supervision order and 5 years sex offenders notice.
Due to the disclosures I had to make when applying, it took another two years before I could be accepted into another school. I also had to repeat these disclosures when later applying for college. Though I felt a strong sense of injustice at the time I did not have the capacity to articulate how. However, I believed that once this crime was spent I would indeed be able move on without any long term implications.
In 2020, I was dismissed from my job as it was discovered that this conviction appears on my DBS. A month later, my ex partner alerted social services to this conviction and has been referenced several times by social services and CAFCASS in our on going family court case.
I’d argue the law firm who handled the case did not represent my best interests and failed in their duty of care.
I feel that I was not treated appropriately or fairly given my age. I’d argue the spirit of the law regarding child sexual offences is to protect minors and appropriately punish adults for crimes against children.
I’d argue that the sentence received is disproportionate considering the offence I committed vs the life long implications of it as I have recently discovered.
In my case, there is no differentiation between an adult or child perpetrator and I feel this should be a factor when considering sentencing.
I’m in the process of appealing my sentence and conviction with the court of appeal. I’m currently replying to the CPS who have responded to the appeal claim. I would like help fleshing out the grounds for appeal and help highlighting any key or relevant points.
My claim to appeal is on the basis of poor representation, fairness and proportionality.
My case:
In 2000, I exposed myself to two female classmates at a bus stop outside of our school. All three of us were aged 12 at the time.
I was arrested and advised not to answer police questions.
I was later advised to plead guilty to 2 counts of gross indecency with a child at the Crown Court.
I was sentenced to an 18 month supervision order and placed on the sex offenders register for 5 years.
I believe the advice given to not answer police questions when arrested was inappropriate. I’d argue counsel should have advised me to cooperate with police early to resolve the matter before court.
I was advised by counsel to plead guilty to a sex crime, gross indecency with a child. As confirmed in my pre-sentencing reports, I had not started puberty and was immature for my age. I’d argue as a child, I could not have had a sexual motivation to commit the act and therefore should not be found guilty of it.
However, pleading guilty did not allow for any mitigating factors to be heard. Furthermore, the long term implications of the guilty plea were not communicated to me. Counsel advised that pleading guilty would be looked at favourably by the judge, the trial process would be speedy and that my conviction would eventually be spent and removed from my record.
During this period I was unable to return to school and eager and to resume my education so I accepted.
I was unable to return back to my previous school due to the conviction.
I was sentenced to 18 month supervision order and 5 years sex offenders notice.
Due to the disclosures I had to make when applying, it took another two years before I could be accepted into another school. I also had to repeat these disclosures when later applying for college. Though I felt a strong sense of injustice at the time I did not have the capacity to articulate how. However, I believed that once this crime was spent I would indeed be able move on without any long term implications.
In 2020, I was dismissed from my job as it was discovered that this conviction appears on my DBS. A month later, my ex partner alerted social services to this conviction and has been referenced several times by social services and CAFCASS in our on going family court case.
I’d argue the law firm who handled the case did not represent my best interests and failed in their duty of care.
I feel that I was not treated appropriately or fairly given my age. I’d argue the spirit of the law regarding child sexual offences is to protect minors and appropriately punish adults for crimes against children.
I’d argue that the sentence received is disproportionate considering the offence I committed vs the life long implications of it as I have recently discovered.
In my case, there is no differentiation between an adult or child perpetrator and I feel this should be a factor when considering sentencing.
Comment