Family and Friends Forum

Finding barristers and a lot of other things

Notifications OFF

Helpforus2022

Member since
March 2022

1 post

Posted Wed March 2, 2022 9:52pmReport post

When the police came partner was abroad and is still there as his parent is ill. Ploice did not say much.

Partner admitted to going on a website called Kick. Says that he received only a msg from someone but no pictures/videos, she later said she was 14. He says he told her off for initially lying about her age and they called each other names (not sure what) and stopped chatting. He says that she did try to contact him again and that he did not respond.

We have a child together. So I don't want any contact with him until this is sorted or child is 18.

He had been unemployed for many years. Was depressed. And I did ignore him as I was busy working and looking after child. He loved interacting with others but was inhibited by lack of job and money. He was once a lovely young man full of dreams and hope who is now broken. Was broken even before this happened.

He understands that I don't want him back with us.

His passport is due for renewal in a few months' time. His plan is to return before this happens and seek legal help.

I woukd be grateful if someone could help with the following please.

1. He has been largely unempolyed. But earned about £12,000 last year and has paid NIC. And wouldn't have been with us fot at least 4 months when he returns. Would he be eligible for legal aid?

2. If someone is eligible for free legal aid, is there anyway he can find someone now or does he need to wait and accept a lawyer on duty?

3. If he is allowed find someone beforehand, please could you recommend someone? And who is he meant to find? Does he find a regular lawyer who then finds a barrister? Or does he need to find both at the same time?

4. All this happened more than 2 years ago and the phone he had then broke down, so he has had a new phone. Would the fact that he cannot provide his old phone from the time count against him? On the one hand, I am relieved that there is no chance of forensics finding anything just to pile it on, om the other hand I worry thatvtgis will be seen as hiding guilt or similar.

I do believe the bit about all this happening a while ago - he had started exercising regularly, being more engaged with things at home, cooking for us and generally planning to be a different person once he returned home- depending om how long the situation with his parent lasted.

He is adamant that he has certainly accessed porn but never downloaded or viewed anything with children and never incited or had sexual conversations with the girl he had contact with and is planning to plead not guilty.

I worry about him - he is the opposite of articulate, says things he does not mean, backtracks, gets flustered. I suspect he has undiagnosed autism/ADHD. The kind who attracts bullies.

His plan is to return, seek legal advice before or after return and fight the charges. He needs to declare himself homeless as 1) he wjll not be staying with us 2) neither of us has enough money to rent room/house in addition to current expenses.

I am still reeling from it all and compartmentalising things to cope with this. I am sad that the lovely person I knew has reduced to this over the 2 decades. I am worried about being associated with him right now but do want to help him.

I would be grateful for advice regarding the above points please. I have tried to find info going through all the posts, but could not find answers to these queries.

BaffledB

Member since
July 2021

876 posts

Posted Thu March 3, 2022 7:42pmReport post

Hey,

What a nightmare! Sorry you've had to join us here, a place I wouldn't even invite my worst enemy to! It sounds a bit odd that the Police would lie about their age and then say they were 14 (if it was a Police decoy) as I'm not sure whether legal technicalities would be present with this but I'm not 100% and also the Police are idiots in my experience.

I woukd be grateful if someone could help with the following please.

1. He has been largely unempolyed. But earned about £12,000 last year and has paid NIC. And wouldn't have been with us fot at least 4 months when he returns. Would he be eligible for legal aid? I am pretty sure it goes off disposable income too so if he has rent/childcare to pay this will be deducted but £12k should be fine to qualify for legal aid in England

2. If someone is eligible for free legal aid, is there anyway he can find someone now or does he need to wait and accept a lawyer on duty? Yes he can find someone now and it's in his advantage to find someone

3. If he is allowed find someone beforehand, please could you recommend someone? And who is he meant to find? Does he find a regular lawyer who then finds a barrister? Or does he need to find both at the same time? He is best having a chat with a few and picking whoever he has the best rapport/confidence with. In my case we saw a solicitor and then the barrister is from the same firm - we could potentially change if things don't happen in the next couple of weeks. A specialist solicitor isn't so much necessary anymore as these crimes are so common a lot of solicitors deal with them but best to ask them how experienced with them they are.

4. All this happened more than 2 years ago and the phone he had then broke down, so he has had a new phone. Would the fact that he cannot provide his old phone from the time count against him? On the one hand, I am relieved that there is no chance of forensics finding anything just to pile it on, om the other hand I worry thatvtgis will be seen as hiding guilt or similar. Not having the phone won't go against him. Unless he has an iPhone because a lot of stuff is saved to the Cloud, this may also be the case with other manufacturers. In fact it just helps his case for lack of evidence.

Try not to worry too much at this stage as there is basically no evidence so if he comes back and gives a no comment interview which his solicitor will most likely advise then the CPS will more than likely drop the case because there is no evidence. Unless he sent pictures or had indepth conversation I can't really see what they can charge for, unless they've mixed up their evidence with someone else like they have in my case! I hope this helps you xx

Edited Thu March 3, 2022 7:43pm