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Notice of Intended Prosecution Leeds, Wakefield & Pontefract
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As a firm of solicitors based in Wakefield, our team of
road traffic defence lawyers are able to attend Wakefield,
Leeds, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Barnsley and Pontefract
Magistrates Courts or police stations at short notice
to defend your case.
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Notice of Intended Prosecution Solicitor, Leeds &
Wakefield
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Magistrates Court Procedure.
Magistrates court procedure and the rules of evidence
and disclosure are extremely complex.
Before Court.
There are, broadly speaking, two ways to bring a criminal
prosecution to court; charge and bail at the police station
or the issuing of a summons.
A person charged at the police station MUST attend court
to surrender to bail, a failure to do so without reasonable
excuse is a criminal offence which can carry imprisonment
and may lead to a defendant being remanded into custody
until the conclusion of the case.
A person required to attend in response to summons is
expected to attend court but can have a legal representative
attend on his/her behalf or can sometimes simply write
in to court and ask that written representations are read
out to the magistrates.
There are procedural requirements that the police and
prosecuting authority MUST follow before the case gets
to court which, if dealt with incorrectly, can lead to
the case being withdrawn or discontinued by the prosecutor
or, following legal argument at court, dismissed by the
court. For example:
Timescales for the issuing of a summons.
Are you aware the laying of an information (the formal
process asking the court to issue a summons) must be done
within a certain period of the offence? The Magistrates¢
are not allowed to try people for certain offences if
this has not been complied with.
Notices of intended prosecution.
Are you aware that for certain offences the police MUST
give notice of intended prosecution within a fixed (and
short) period of the offence itself and if they fail
to do this that the case against you MUST fail.
The first hearing
At the first hearing of the case progress is expected
by the court. Usually in road traffic cases there is
one of three outcomes. The defendant pleads guilty and
the case is dealt with to a conclusion, the defendant
pleads not guilty and the case is adjourned to a pre-trial
review hearing (where a final trail date is fixed) or
there is an application to adjourn the case by either
the defence of prosecution to decide on plea, obtain
extra information or to seek advice.
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Pre-trial review
At the pre-trial review the court will ask the defendant
and prosecutor a number of questions to check that the
case is progressing properly, to enable the fixing of
a final trial date and to ensure that both parties are
properly dealing with disclosure and the rules of evidence.
The trial
At trial the court will hear an opening speech from
the prosecutor, evidence from live prosecution witnesses
(who the defendant may cross-examine), statements of
non-contested witnesses will be read out (together with
notes of anything the defendant may have said in police
interview) and the defendant will then have the opportunity
to give evidence himself (this will expose him to cross-examination)
and to give a closing speech. After hearing all the
evidence the magistrates will retire to consider their
verdict.
If a not guilty verdict is returned then the case against
the defendant will be dismissed and it may be possible
to make an application for the defendant¢s
legal costs to be paid from central funds.
If a guilty plea is entered then the court will proceed
to sentence the defendant.
The rules of evidence MUST be adhered to at trial.
Certain prosecution or defence evidence may not be admissible
and it is important to know before and during trial
exactly which evidence is and is not admissible. Some
evidence can become inadmissible if the proper procedures
have not been adhered to by the police or prosecution.
Sentencing
Once a guilty plea has been entered or, after trial,
a guilty verdict returned then the court will proceed
to sentence the defendant. The court have very wide
sentencing powers and have sentencing guidelines for
each types of offence from fines, penalty points and
driving bans to community orders and even imprisonment
in the most serious cases. Occasionally following a
guilty plea or verdict the case will have to be adjourned
for probation reports (serious cases only)
At the sentencing hearing is important that the defendant
understands the magistrates¢ court sentencing
guidelines in order to be able to draw to the courts
attention the appropriate mitigating features in the
case to ensure the best possible outcome.
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Notice of Intended Prosecution Leeds, Wakefield & Pontefract
Daniel Smith
Notice of Intended Prosecution Solicitor, Leeds / Wakefield / Pontefract. Daniel
obtained an LLB Hons in 1998 having previously worked in stock management/retailing
for a West Yorkshire plc dealing with a multi-million pound budget.
John Wilkinson
Notice of Intended Prosecution Solicitor, Leeds / Wakefield / Pontefract. John holds
the Higher Rights of Audience (Criminal Courts) qualification, enabling
him to conduct cases himself without a Barrister at the Crown Court.
Katie Edmondson
Notice of Intended Prosecution Solicitor, Leeds / Wakefield / Pontefract. Katie Graduated
with an Honours degree in Law at Sheffield Hallam University before
completing her post-graduate studies at the College of Law in York.
Emma Radley
Notice of Intended Prosecution Solicitor, Leeds / Wakefield / Pontefract. Emma graduated
from Liverpool University in 2004 with an Hons degree in Law. She
then obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the College
of Law in York. |
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