Statistics
Police Stations
Using the graph below you can see the proportion of cases at the Police Station in which clients of this firm were either Charged or Summonsed to appear at Court or released from the Police Station without any charge or cautioned.
Figures based on our closed files between 01/07/11-30/09/11.
The above statistics demonstrate that in a surprisingly high proportion of cases, legal assistance, at an early stage in the case, helped get the client released from the Police Station without any charges.
Frequently, when a suspect is interviewed at the Police Station about an offence, without knowing their legal rights and entitlements, they may fall into the trap of saying things to the Police that will help the Police to build a prosecution case against them.
The message is clear - always get a solicitor at the Police Station at the earliest opportunity. It is your right.
Bail
The graph below shows the proportion of our clients who, throughout the course of criminal proceedings before the Court, enjoyed bail either with or without conditions.
Figures based on our closed files between 01/07/11-30/09/11.
A large proportion of the 94% of clients who were bailed in the proceedings were, at the start of their case, following charge, remanded into custody by the Police.
In these cases it was necessary for one of our lawyers to attend at either the Magistrates' or the Crown Court to argue for that client to be granted bail.
As you can see from the above information, in all but the most serious cases, our clients were granted bail by the Court.
Trials
Using the graph below, you can see the outcome of Magistrates' Court trial cases where allegations of criminal offences were denied.
You will see that this information has been broken down into those cases which led to convictions after trials, those cases which resulted in the client’s acquittal at trial and those cases which were discontinued before trial by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Figures based on our closed files between 01/07/11-30/09/11.
As you can see from the above table, a staggering 92% of our clients for the 3 month period between July and September 2011 were not convicted of any wrongdoing even after charges were brought by the Police.
It is therefore vital that when you are accused of a criminal offence and have to go to Court, the instruction of a solicitors help at the earliest possible stage is vital to obtaining the right result for you.
When preparing a case for trail, over and above taking a methodical approach to securing your acquittal, we will continue to take a firm line with the Crown Prosecution Service, pointing out the defects in their case.
This pressure often leads to the Crown Prosecution Service deciding to drop the case.
Sentencing
Out of all our clients who either pled guilty or convicted guilty by the Court, you can see below the types of sentences they received.
Figures based on our closed files between 01/07/11-30/09/11.
Based on our quarterly figures in the Magistrates’ Court, you can see from the above table that only one-fifth of our clients were sent to Prison.
The majority of those who, on our advice, pled Guilty at an early stage in the proceedings or who were found Guilty following trials, received Community Based Penalties.
Community Based Penalties, typically require the convicted person to engage for a period of time with the Probation Service in performing either a Supervision Order or an Unpaid Work Requirement or a combination of those and other requirements as felt appropriate by the Courts.
A smaller proportion of our clients received either fines or Conditional Discharges for involvement in certain less serious offences.
Crown Court
Crown Court Trials
Using the table below, see what proportion of our clients facing trials at the Crown Court, were either convicted, acquitted or had their cases discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service mid-way through the process.
Figures based on our closed files between 01/03/11-31/10/11.
As you can see from the above information, over two-thirds of our clients facing allegations at The Crown Court were acquitted of any wrongdoing or had their cases discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service during the course of the process.
Crown Court Sentencing
Using the table below, you can see the proportion of those clients who were sentenced to either Prison, community based penalties or fines following their conviction of criminal offences at the Crown Court.
Figures based on our closed files between 01/03/11-31/10/11.
As you can see from the above information, even those convicted of or pleading guilty to the most serious types of criminal offences in the Crown Court, 50% avoided Prison.
Appeals
The table below shows our success rate in appealing sentencing decisions made in the Magistrates’ Court to the Crown Court over a 12 month period.
Figures based on our closed files between 01/11/10-31/10/11.
As you can see from the above, in almost half of the cases in which we disagreed with the decision of the Magistrates’ Court, the Crown Court Judge agreed with us and reduced the sentence handed down by the Magistrates’.