Family and Friends Forum

I agree with lee depends on the solicitor and the judge on the day. My OH wrote a brilliant accountability letter which was disregarded / not submitted and the character statement I wrote was actually used against him and completely misquoted and mis read by a judge who could not have possibly read the whole thing from his conclusion . Tread carefully -,he also had poor representation and this is key as Lee had mentioned before and sometimes you just don't know !

Hiya

We haven't been made aware that all these things can help. All I know is that the probation officer spoke to him for 1,1/2 hours and they prepared the report for the court. Its probably too late now to get anything over as his on warned list.

I hope this won't go against him.

Post deleted

Hi dad sister,

I think you can submit anything to court up to the day before the hearing. They can really help, if you feel like you can have a go at writing one and give it to his solicitor on Monday to be submitted. We had our sentencing last week and the judge commented that he had read my, he said it was very impressive.

My partner did his own letter and had four references from myself and friends. He had a rubbish solicitor tbh. Despite my partner submitting his letters in advance the solicitor had not given it to the judge until the day of the hearing. There were also other admin issues and so the sentencing was postponed.

Thankfully the judge did read in the end but they never mentioned the letters at all when giving their views and final statement. However I think they did mention they acknowledge my partner has family and friends support to help with his rehabilitation.

Your first post is pretty much what I wrote in a statement and filled a page. It needs to be matter of fact, little to no emotion. I personally said that I have witnessed my partner be proactive in his own rehabilitation and that I do not condone his actions.

Jay Jay I covered all those guidelines above and gave a good unemotional account - possibly it was too long 2 pages. I started with not condoning the crime and impact on family and this was the part that was used to support his punishment. From the sum up I know the judge could not have read it all the good character , work and family life and what he had done since the knock . he had a very favourable pre sentence report and police and probation said no risk and unlikely to reoffend so a shock to get a custodial and ten year register. I wish I could tell you what works and what doesn't but it's a lottery . it's so hard to plan and be prepared for. I see so many cases in the paper now and all with huge varying outcomes. Good luck to you and yours xxx

Thank you everyone for your responses. I think we haven't been told by my Brother because he thinks everyone should hate him and not want to help him.

Gz, so pleased your reference helped. I really don't know where to start with writing a supporting statement. I would worry I'd say something wrong and make things worse (if thats possible).

What should I include?

Xx

I searched this forum for all the really helpful posts and googled it lots on how to set it out. I used this template for it.
don't comment on what you think the sentence should be. Stick to facts and don't make it too emotional.

Who you are

Introduce yourself, say what your job is and include any qualifications you hold.

Your relationship to the person

How do you know the person? How long have you known them? How often do you see or call them?

Your knowledge of the person’s charges

Has the person talked with you about the charges and why they are going to court?How do they feel about what they have done?Are they sorry for what they did?How have they shown that? For example, have they been distressed or upset?Have they gone to counselling?Have they paid for any damage or said sorry to the victim?Has the person suffered any hardship or punishment because of these offences? For example, did they lose their job?Was their reputation damaged?Do they feel disgraced in their community or among family and friendsYour knowledge of what is going on in the person’s lifeWhat do you know of the person’s background and any hardship in their life?Are there any personal problems that may have played a part in what they did? For example, drug or alcohol use, financial issues, mental illness. What are they doing to overcome these problems?Your opinion of the person’s characterWhat is their general character and reputation in the community?What sort of person are they? Is it out of character that this person committed the offence? Why do you think this?Do they have prior convictions? If so, does this affect your opinion of the person?Has the person contributed to their community by doing voluntary work, or had special achievements in their job or schooling, or sporting activities?