Llm Solicitors - Liverpool

A great result today for one of our clients following a long battle for disclosure!
Outrageous that even after all the recent press the prosecution are (in certain instances) still withholding information of this importance.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/…/man-s pent-six-months-jail…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manc hester-42540738

Boxing Day Police Station trip!
24 / 7 / 365 !

A strange job (But a good one)!

So as I write this post, I’m sitting here at St Anne’s Street Police Station waiting for my Client. Its 1.10am, and I’ve just gotten details of the allegation against him from the investigating officer. I’m waiting for my client’s recent dose of diazepam to kick in to counteract the effects of his alcohol withdrawal, and allow him to engage in the interview pr...ocess.
Hardly how I expected to spend the balance of my evening when at 11.15 (as I sat there in front on the TV contemplating going to bed) I received a call from the police call centre notifying us that this particular client had requested our assistance!
It’s always a huge compliment to receive call to attend a police station on behalf of an own client (a client that has specifically requested your services), but its even more rewarding when it’s the first time that particular client has done so, as is the case tonight. This Client is, in fact, the very same that I posted about previously (police application for CBO), and on that occasion we fought together and won, and my initial thought, as I sit here, is that he may well been wronged once again! We could have another battle on our hands!
A strange job certainly, but there can’t be many more enjoyable! (I wonder if I’ll feel the same when I have to get up to go to Court in 6 hours’ time??!!!).
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Am I missing something? Straw poll please!
Prior to returning to Liverpool about 12 months ago I almost exclusively conducted crown court trials in London. Consequently, since I’ve been back, I’ve found myself being re-introduced to certain offences that are exclusively dealt with in the Magistrates Court.
This has, on more than one occasion, left me in absolute amazement as to how things are done in the lower court (see earlier posts for previous rants). But this week I th...ink I’ve come across the champ of strange law!
I certainly don’t think for second that I’m more intelligent than those who make the law, so I’m genuinely interested. Does this sound fair to you?
My Client was stopped by police as he was shown to be disqualified from driving. Upon arrest he is recorded as saying; “I didn’t know I was disqualified”, a position he re-iterates in police interview. We become aware that he had been disqualified in his absence by Wirral Magistrates Court three months earlier following conviction for “failing to notify the police as to the identity of a driver”. He had been sentenced to 6 penalty points, which had meant he had exceeded the permitted 12 and been disqualified. Throughout the interview it transpired that the letters notifying him of the proceedings and subsequent disqualification had been sent to an address that he had not resided at for over a year!
We subsequently attended court, pre charge, and my client made a statutory declaration to the effect that he had been unaware of the proceedings and accordingly the conviction and disqualification were set aside. My Client pleaded guilty to the underlying SP30 speeding offending, and was given 3 penalty points and hence he was no longer disqualified.
I had some understanding of this situation from a number of years earlier and so set about reminding myself as to the law. Indeed my fears were realized when I found that the law says; if you’re disqualified, you’re disqualified, it doesn’t matter if you knew about it! I remained undeterred, and convinced that that could not be so in a situation where the disqualification was then voided, but found that, yes, even in those situations the Court of Appeal Judgment in R –v- Singh (Jaspal)[1999] says the offence is still committed!
I advised my client accordingly and suggested we may have to challenge the law through the administrative court. However, that is a long and drawn out process, and understandably my client decided that he did not want the matter hanging over his head that long.
I therefore fall on my last hope – the goodwill of the CPS - who still have to be persuaded that it is in the interest of justice to prosecute the Defendant. The case has been adjourned for 4 weeks whilst we await their review!
So, votes please. Is this justice?!
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lond on-42365521

Heading out to the Police Station!
Available 24/7!

For those of you who were kind enough to show an interest in this case, our arguments successfully persuaded the Court that it was unnecessary to exclude our Client from Liverpool and that excluding him from a single street would be quite sufficient!

They are very eager here to point out that they are not a normal prison. They are, in fact, a “therapeutic community”!
Sounds delightful!

Sharing Porn! Just a bit of a laugh?
As a result of the increasing dependence on smart mobile phones, the police, more then ever, are seizing such phones from suspects as potential evidence. Be the offence drug dealing, violence both non sexual and sexual, dangerous driving, harassment, etc, etc no phone is safe from an investigation!
With that in mind we have increasingly come across cases where, for example, the police are investigating an offence of harassment, but come a...cross images of extreme pornography which have no bearing on the case being investigated, but then must be investigated by the police. It is actually an offence to posses extreme pornography and depending on the type of images the offence is punishable with up 3 years imprisonment.
The definition as to what constitutes Extreme Pornography is quite broad, but make no mistake bestiality comes within the definition. The reason why we mention bestiality is because we have come across a number of cases where clients have received videos of bestiality as a joke from their friends via WhatsApp and because of the settings the videos have ended being saved on the camera roll of our client’s iPhone. Thus, potentially being mixed with personal and innocent photos of our client’s family and suchlike and looking very incriminating. Now it is a defence to have not seen the image and to have not had any cause to believe it to be extreme pornography. In addition, it is a defence if the image as in the case of some of our clients was sent to them without any prior request and they did not keep it for an unreasonable amount of time. However, the burden of proof is on the defendant to prove this defence which can be very difficult. In addition, the police will inform you that such offences can lead to one being placed on the sexual offender’s register. This is true but only if you receive a sentence of 2 years imprisonment which would be reserved for the most serious of offences.
So the moral of this story is that whilst your friends may be joking when they send you such videos make sure you delete them asap and make sure your whatapp is not on a setting which saves all images received to your camera roll. Otherwise you risk a conviction for a particular unpleasant offence or at the very least embarrassing questions about whether you are the person in the video and what is the name of the goat?
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Just move the problem along!
I am currently preparing for a case I have next week, when I will be responding to a police application for a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO). My Client is a member of the increasingly prevalent population of street sleepers on the streets of Liverpool city centre.
My Client was recently convicted of an offence of using threatening behaviour towards police officers in the course of his being arrested for possessing a small amount of cannabis. He ...will be sentenced for this however, in addition, the police make application for a CBO.
In order for the Police application to succeed they must satisfy two criteria;
1. that the offender has engaged in behaviour that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person, 2. that making the order will help in preventing the offender from engaging in such behaviour
My Client admitted the offence of threatening behaviour prior to my becoming involved in the case, and therefore, the first criteria is met. Therefore, any contest will concern whether the proposed order will help in “preventing further offending”.
The particular order the police seek is to permanently exclude my Client from a number of roads that could collectively be described as Liverpool City Centre. My Client objects to this. He lives on the streets of Liverpool City Centre and does so as he feels safe, and can access the range of charitable organisations that exist throughout the city.
The police would contend that my Client is a nuisance and schedule a number of alleged instances of anti-social behaviour in Liverpool City Centre (none of which, may I say, have been prosecuted themselves).
It is worthy of comment that I regularly find myself walking up and down Bold Street and regularly see my Client on the side of the road (his usual spot) and have never seen him aggressively begging or anything of the sort. However, for the purposes of this post, lets assume he is a nuisance and is guilty of the behaviour alleged.
Nevertheless, I still hold a moral objection to the proposed order. Do the police truly believe that excluding my Client from the City Centre, and the network of support, is really going to assist his rehabilitation and “prevent the offender from engaging in such behaviour?” I think we can assume not.
So what is the Polices motivation …?
To move the problem elsewhere? So the City Centre is kept pretty? So those better off can shop in our wonderful new shopping centres without being troubled by having to look at scruffy street sleepers?
Doesn’t sound like a very forward thinking attitude to me?
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The great Cannabis debate!
This is of course a very live issue at the moment, and I’ve read a number of interesting posts concerning the widely acknowledged argument that cannabis was only ever criminalised for political and economic reasons.
I don’t intend to discuss that aspect of the debate, but I do have an interesting story that may support the argument that, however it became criminalised in the first instance, maybe its time to think again.
... A couple of years ago I represented a man at Inner Crown Court in London who was accused of possession with intent to supply cannabis.
The facts were that police had executed a warrant at an address and found a large amount of cannabis, a hydraulic press, and a substantial amount of cash. Unsurprisingly upon my Client returning home, they arrested him!
My Clients position was that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and that he had been self medicating with cannabis oil. However, the purchase of prepared oil was becoming too expensive. He had therefore entered into arrangement with the local drug dealer to purchase the large quantity of cannabis (the cannabis recovered) the cost which he would repay of a gradual basis on the understanding he allowed the drug dealer to use his home for the preparation of drugs for sale on the street.
Now I appreciate some may be sceptical about this defence. But here’s some facts. My Client had been diagnosed with cancer twelve months earlier. My Clients brother had also been diagnosed with cancer, pursued conventional forms of medicine, but had unfortunately passed away. The Defendant had attended for an initial consultation with his doctor shortly after diagnosis when he had refused conventional treatment, and indicated a preference to pursue alternative medicine. Notwithstanding this decision the Defendant had started going into remission six months earlier. Finally, a third party had made a civil application claiming ownership of the money recovered.
Certainly the jury were sufficiently persuaded as, following trial, my Client was acquitted of intending to supply the drugs.
This raised an important question in my mind. If my Clients only crime was committed in the course of an attempt to save his own life, was justice really served by prosecuting him?
Although I read on the subject I would still consider myself relatively ill educated concerning medicinal cannabis, and I certainly wouldn’t wish to question those who prefer the idea conventional medicine. However this story, and the many others like it, persuade me that the debate on the legalisation of cannabis has to be considered further.
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Equality in Legal Aid!
I am aware that many hold the opinion that the legal aid budget is an unnecessary burden on society. However, I recently came across a scenario that, in my opinion, showed the importance of legal aid. Firstly, I would note that this scenario related to the family law, and therefore not something we as a Firm would, or could, profit from.
A couple of months ago I was instructed to assist a Client in the cell area in Liverpool Magistrates who had been ac...
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“But my mate said he only got a fine!”
This has to be one of the most exasperating comments any criminal defence lawyer can hear!
You visit your client in prison charged with, lets say, conspiracy to supply drugs. You’ve stayed up all night considering your clients case and have a firm understanding of the situation he finds himself in. You arrive at the prison and sit down ready to talk it through with him. However, as you ramble on, it’s increasingly clear that not a w...ord of it is getting past his nose. Why? Because, as it transpires, he’s already been advised, and his cell mate “Bazza” believes he should only be getting community service at worst! This is, of course, exactly what your client wants to hear and consequently nothing you say will move him away from this belief. Even the fact that Barry, notwithstanding his legal expertise, remains a resident of Her Majesty’s Hotel Walton won’t dissuade him!
The reality of the situation is that the government has set down guidelines aimed at ensuring persons convicted of similar offences are dealt with in a similar way. So, whenever you come across a situation where the press criticise or celebrate a lawyer’s achievement, and at the risk of betraying my profession, it’s very likely the governments guidance had something to do with it.
That being said there’s certainly no governmental guidance on how to win a trial!!
If you are interested in the governments sentencing guidelines they can be found here;
https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publ ications/
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Hope everybody enjoys the Liverpool Sleepout tonight! We are, as ever, very proud to be associated with The Whitechapel Centre. Fantastic organisation doing fantastic work with the homeless community! #livsleepout

Is disqualification inevitable following a conviction for drink driving?
The Magistrates Court guidelines state that upon conviction they MUST endorse a licence and disqualify for at least 12 months.
However, the law also states that where special reasons or mitigating circumstances are found, the court has a discretion to disqualify the offender for a lesser period or not at all;
... So what is capable of being a “special reason”?
In R. v Wickens (1958) four minimum “criteria” were laid down: to amount to a “special reason” a matter must: (1) be a mitigating or extenuating circumstance; (2) not amount in law to a defence to the charge; (3) be directly connected with the commission of the offence; and (4) be one which the court ought properly to take into consideration when imposing sentence.
This is however not tremendously helpful as it could be applied to just about every explanation imaginable. The only real way to understand what could be a special reason is to look at the previous decisions of the court;
Circumstances that have been accepted by the Court;
- The fact that the defendant drove for a short distance and in circumstances such that he was unlikely to be brought into contact with other road users - The fact that the defendant unintentionally committed the offence or was misled, without negligence, into committing it; - The fact that the defendant’s breath sample included regurgitated alcohol which caused the readings recorded by the Intoximeter to exceed the prescribed limit: - The fact that the defendant committed the offence whilst coping with a true emergency
Circumstances that were NOT accepted by the Court;
- The fact that the defendant is of good character, has a good driving record, or that he, his family or employees, will suffer personal, financial or other hardship, however severe: - The fact that the defendant is a doctor, or has some other employment of benefit to the public, for the proper discharge of which a licence is important or vital; Gordon v Smith [1971] Crim. L.R. 173; Holroyd v Berry [1973] R.T.R. 145. - The fact that, as a condition of bail prior to trial, the defendant was not permitted to drive: - The fact, by itself, that the offence was trivial
Hopefully that provides a bit of an insight, just in case you were to ever find yourself in that unfortunate situation!
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When does a racially motivated murderer become a terrorist?
Have you ever wondered, when watching this seemingly endless stream of atrocities in the name of religion, whether referring to some of these offenders as “terrorists” offers their actions more credibility than they are due by implying that there is some substance behind their actions? How does the law deal with this?
To understand how the law answers this question we have to look at Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 20...00 which states “terrorism” means the use or threat of action where— (a) the action constitutes either serious violence, serious damage to property, endangers a persons life, serious health risk to the public or seriously interfere with an electronic system; (b) the use or threat is designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public; and (c) the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause.
All three of these must be satisfied for the offence to be terrorism in law.
We can be fairly comfortable that most of these events will satisfy (a). I would also suggest that the decision to commit an act of violence in a public place is intended to “intimidate the public” at the very least! That’s (b).
So often it comes down to (c); is it designed to advance one of the three types of “cause” detailed? This is a subjective question. It requires us to attempt to understand the mindset of the guilty party and reach a conclusive opinion about what their motivation was. Not easy. It seems clear that a person’s individual dislike for a particular section of society could not satisfy this. It is also clear that a person’s explicit membership of an organisation that clearly aims to advance an established agenda, such as ISIS, very probably would. It's everything that falls in between that needs to be determined by the Court, and that can only be determined on the basis of it's own facts!
Clearly there couldn’t be any suggestion that either is anymore justifiable that the other. But equally, is it correct to refer to somebody as a terrorist when in fact a racially motivated murderer would be a more accurate description?
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Thank you LLM. Especially Mr James lefroy absaloutly brilliant solicitor. Great communication throughout . Thank you for all your help much appreciated. X

During my arrest I was stressed out, didn't know what my rights are and what I could do but the staff at LLM Liverpool helped me out! Gave me great advice and really chilled me out during and after my arrest I would highly recommend!



Big thank you to my solicitor James!

A strange job (But a good one)!

So as I write this post, I’m sitting here at St Anne’s Street Police Station waiting for my Client. Its 1.10am, and I’ve just gotten details of the allegation against him from the investigating officer. I’m waiting for my client’s recent dose of diazepam to kick in to counteract the effects of his alcohol withdrawal, and allow him to engage in the interview pr...ocess.
Hardly how I expected to spend the balance of my evening when at 11.15 (as I sat there in front on the TV contemplating going to bed) I received a call from the police call centre notifying us that this particular client had requested our assistance!
It’s always a huge compliment to receive call to attend a police station on behalf of an own client (a client that has specifically requested your services), but its even more rewarding when it’s the first time that particular client has done so, as is the case tonight. This Client is, in fact, the very same that I posted about previously (police application for CBO), and on that occasion we fought together and won, and my initial thought, as I sit here, is that he may well been wronged once again! We could have another battle on our hands!
A strange job certainly, but there can’t be many more enjoyable! (I wonder if I’ll feel the same when I have to get up to go to Court in 6 hours’ time??!!!).
See More

Thank you LLM. Especially Mr James lefroy absaloutly brilliant solicitor. Great communication throughout . Thank you for all your help much appreciated. X

During my arrest I was stressed out, didn't know what my rights are and what I could do but the staff at LLM Liverpool helped me out! Gave me great advice and really chilled me out during and after my arrest I would highly recommend!



Big thank you to my solicitor James!

A strange job (But a good one)!

So as I write this post, I’m sitting here at St Anne’s Street Police Station waiting for my Client. Its 1.10am, and I’ve just gotten details of the allegation against him from the investigating officer. I’m waiting for my client’s recent dose of diazepam to kick in to counteract the effects of his alcohol withdrawal, and allow him to engage in the interview pr...ocess.
Hardly how I expected to spend the balance of my evening when at 11.15 (as I sat there in front on the TV contemplating going to bed) I received a call from the police call centre notifying us that this particular client had requested our assistance!
It’s always a huge compliment to receive call to attend a police station on behalf of an own client (a client that has specifically requested your services), but its even more rewarding when it’s the first time that particular client has done so, as is the case tonight. This Client is, in fact, the very same that I posted about previously (police application for CBO), and on that occasion we fought together and won, and my initial thought, as I sit here, is that he may well been wronged once again! We could have another battle on our hands!
A strange job certainly, but there can’t be many more enjoyable! (I wonder if I’ll feel the same when I have to get up to go to Court in 6 hours’ time??!!!).
See More

Thank you LLM. Especially Mr James lefroy absaloutly brilliant solicitor. Great communication throughout . Thank you for all your help much appreciated. X

During my arrest I was stressed out, didn't know what my rights are and what I could do but the staff at LLM Liverpool helped me out! Gave me great advice and really chilled me out during and after my arrest I would highly recommend!



Big thank you to my solicitor James!