Family and Friends Forum

I am in the same boat as you hun and I asked the same question to my solicitor.

I think it's something to do with because of the Catorgorie A..

Xx

Well as you know hubby is at magistrates on Tuesday but he knows it's going to crown

Xx

He is ok has dark days. Been keeping himself busy. Keeps saying to me sorry, etc.

He thinks suspended sentence. He has done all the courses and 11 paid concelling sessions.

Me I am ok thank you. Trying to ask why this has happened etc. I am staying with him. He is my best mate, soulmate and mine.

No I am not going in. Too much for me. Will be waiting in the car. I have seen the charges. All catorgories 23 in total.

How's you hun ? X

We thought magistrates only as we were told making Cat C. Devices checked and they found a couple Cat A (even though he swears he hasn't seen any Cat A) so it has to go to Crown.
I personally think it's a waste of time and money if admitted it and pleading guilty anyway, they should be allowed to get sentenced at there and then at magistrates.

Our barrister and solicitor told us we want it to go to crown. At magistrates they aren't trained, and this will be really serious case for them. Crown has a judge that is trained and takes into account the man and the mitigating factors, and deal with serious cases so this is run of the mill for them.



also when it goes to crown there is time for the PSR which is really needed and helpful

How many in total Jayjay ?

Hi blackhound.

We moved last week. Best thing we did. Nobody here for about 5 miles.

Nobody knows us.

If it hits the media. It will hit down there not here.

He got a cap , mask and big hoody xx

Ah that's good to know, I've not seen it from that point of view before thanks!

30 in total Chelsea. A-C. Keep us updated. We received charges before you, but you have court before us, we will have another 5 weeks til magistrates x

I spoke to the oic about this as partner is adamant he viewed the C but never seen any A. I asked oic if it was possible, he said yes, for every image opened/downloaded etc, a 100 more could download in the cache/background. Oic was very matter of fact - there should be some better way to know what they've viewed. His images were viewed on Twitter too, he hadn't searched for them x

Honestly I feel like our situation will be similar to yours and I keep asking myself all of the same questions as yourself. We are only 3 months into this nightmare and so don't have any charges or info as of yet but on the day my partner was arrested his solicitor advised that the initial catagory given for the images found on his phone that morning were Cat C and partner thinks it's around 20-25 images, obviously this could all change once everything is properly examined (I have no idea what he's viewed- I know there's extreme porn & iioc but he swore it was nothing worth than the Cat C photos already found downloaded..and no videos, who knows if he's being honest) Partner swears there's no other iioc on any of his devices so hopefully that's all there will be. I'm constantly trying to find cases similar to ours so I can prepare myself for the potential outcome, I know that no cases are ever the same but I'm so afraid of the unknown and the consequences of my partners actions.

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Blackhound just a thought ... you say you don't know how many but have magistrates date ... assuming you have received charges? Do you have solicitors appointment before then? X

Hi Ladies.
you may have seen me comment on another post saying that oh is going to be sentenced in magistrates in a few weeks due to positive mitigating factors and low number of A images.

i remember this conversation and now i worried about being sentenced in Magistrates rather than crown, even though that's what we wanted intitally, solicitor said it was very positive as sentance would/should be less than if in crown ... someone calm me down pleasseeeee x

Hi JayJay

Try not to worry (easier said than done) and I hope this calms you down.

Reading everybodies experiences on here, no two cases are the same at all,whether they are sentenced in magistrates or crown. It is still very dependant on the judge(s) on the day.

If you can try and focus on the things you have control over and look after yourself.

I hope this helps.

Thanks Alison. When will we wake up from this bloody nightmare! How are you doing? X

Hi JayJay

Thanks for asking, we are all doing OK. We have been through the whole process and the young person in our family attended Youth Court as he was under 18 years of age.

There is light at the end of the tunnel... you will get through this...

Just look after yourself.

Thanks Alison, you too x

Most solicitors seem to prefer going to Crown Court for sentencing, probably because judges have more experience of sex offences and because in many cases the sentencing guidelines will exceed magistrates sentencing powers. However, the judge sits by him/herself so the sentence is their sole responsibility.

At Magistrates Court, there is a bench of three magistrates, the chair will be the most senior so there may be a benefit in having three points of view. Magistrates are appointed from general members of the public but have to be of good character and good standing in the community (they are not even invited for an initial interview until they have been thoroughly vetted), many are self employed and charity work is not needed to become a magistrate. On appointment, they have to complete at least 21 hours of legal training and meet required standards. Training is ongoing as is assessment - they have to complete at least 6 hours training every three years.

In addition, every Magistrates Court has a 'clerk of the court' who is a qualified solicitor to advise the magistrates on legal matters.

There are also Stipendiary Magistrates who do sit by themselves but they are legally qualified.

Magistrates will have a lot of experience between them, both legally and of life so, as with Crown Court, the sentence will depend on the facts of the case.

(A family member used to be a magistrate so I know how much training they do and, in general, how hard they work at learning the law and applying it fairly.)