Name Change ?
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My oh is awaiting charges at the moment as his file is with the cps.
We are looking at ways to prevent media coverage as we live in a small town. What are people's experiences of changing name before charges ?
Is it worth it and does it help with media coverage ? His solicitor has said not to bother as it doesn't look good to a judge anc often the real name is read out anyway.
We are looking at ways to prevent media coverage as we live in a small town. What are people's experiences of changing name before charges ?
Is it worth it and does it help with media coverage ? His solicitor has said not to bother as it doesn't look good to a judge anc often the real name is read out anyway.
My best advice. Move out of the small town. Atleast for the sentencing he needs to live elsewhere that isn't local to you. It lessens the chance of it being reported as local news.
Small towns pick up on more stories.
Small towns pick up on more stories.
Our solicitor was of the opposite mindset. We changed names and it worked well for us. The old name wasn't used or referred to. The solicitor, who was excellent, made a point of the name change being to protect me and our child, and that he wasn't hiding from anyone, he was there in person in court and accepted responsibility for what he had done.
We didn't get any media coverage. There were 6 others in the same court on the same day for the same offences and I didn't see any media coverage for any of them despite the names and offences being published in courtserve online. Only his new name was published on that website
Edit: we also lived in a very small town, village sized maybe 4000 people. He moved out to a small suburb of a nearby town and only his new address was mentioned in court or put on any paperwork
We didn't get any media coverage. There were 6 others in the same court on the same day for the same offences and I didn't see any media coverage for any of them despite the names and offences being published in courtserve online. Only his new name was published on that website
Edit: we also lived in a very small town, village sized maybe 4000 people. He moved out to a small suburb of a nearby town and only his new address was mentioned in court or put on any paperwork
We also live in a small village and did have media coverage after both magistrates and crown court. My sons age, name and address were printed and he was referred to as a 'P'. I don't think it would have mattered if he'd changed his name or not as our local paper love to print and sensationalise cases like these and use them to get people to read the paper and online articles.
The positive side is that we've had no bad repurcusions of the media articles. People know what my son did so he's not constantly living in fear of his story coming out and the people that are in our lives are there because they choose to be despite knowing what has happened.
The positive side is that we've had no bad repurcusions of the media articles. People know what my son did so he's not constantly living in fear of his story coming out and the people that are in our lives are there because they choose to be despite knowing what has happened.
We have got the house on the market but no luck selling it so far.
If he did move out prior to charges could he use a hotel address ?
what worries me is if he's referred to as formally known as and formally from.
If he did move out prior to charges could he use a hotel address ?
what worries me is if he's referred to as formally known as and formally from.
My OH had moved out and only his new address was mentioned.
Unless your person had a high profile job or was in a position of trust, they are unlikely to report a name change
x
Unless your person had a high profile job or was in a position of trust, they are unlikely to report a name change
x
Thanks for all of the information. The reason for changing name would be to protect my business from losing customers and also to protect my child who is starting work in the same profession as my husband used to work in and I sing want her to be effected with the stigma and potentially lose the job.
If my husband did change his name and was living in a hotel when charged and appearing in court it would really help prevent problems for the family if his name and address was kept out of the media.
If my husband did change his name and was living in a hotel when charged and appearing in court it would really help prevent problems for the family if his name and address was kept out of the media.
Had high hopes of doing this but sadly because my son has a non UK passport it's far more complicated than it should be and he'd be without important documents when he might need them which could make things in other areas tricky. ARGHHHHH! Hope this doesn't apply to anyone else and happy to say more privately if anyone needs extra info.
From articles I have read in the past, the papers have printed the person's name then "also know as previous surname" so theres a chance of that happening.
If I could go back and change anything now it would be to move away from my small village.
I hate saying this because I don't want to put a downer on an already bad situation but I'm also going to honest. The media coverage of my OH's case was the worst thing to happen in our whole journey. If I'd known what it was going to be like I probably would of moved to the other side of the country. Everything else has been bareable and we are out the other side now. Nothing will ever prepare you for the public finding out.
If I could go back and change anything now it would be to move away from my small village.
I hate saying this because I don't want to put a downer on an already bad situation but I'm also going to honest. The media coverage of my OH's case was the worst thing to happen in our whole journey. If I'd known what it was going to be like I probably would of moved to the other side of the country. Everything else has been bareable and we are out the other side now. Nothing will ever prepare you for the public finding out.