Court today.
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So my son attended Magistrates Court this morning with every intention of pleading guilty to his 5 charges. Solicitor was kind of unhelpful and said she cannot advise him what to plead as that is his choice but suggested that a more indepth cyber search is needed for devices this leading to my son pleading not guilty we are now worries that we have lost our chances of an early plea bargain, etc. We was hoping this mess would be one step closer to being over. Magistrates felt his case could be handled in their courts but Solicitor has requested his case be heard at Crown.
This is such a tough decision to make, and one that we’ve had to decide on recently.
Solicitor advised to plead not guilty at magistrates, but after we were filled in of the process it would take to fight the case changed to a guilty plea.
They make you wait so long in limbo only to then put you on the spot to make a decision that will impact your future.
There is nothing fair or easy in the justice system. I’m sorry I don’t have any advice but I know exactly how you feel and still constantly worry if it was the right decision. There’s no real way of knowing without a crystal ball.
I’m sorry you have to face this as well but am sending lots of support and love your way it is such a horrible situation we have all been thrown into xx
Solicitor advised to plead not guilty at magistrates, but after we were filled in of the process it would take to fight the case changed to a guilty plea.
They make you wait so long in limbo only to then put you on the spot to make a decision that will impact your future.
There is nothing fair or easy in the justice system. I’m sorry I don’t have any advice but I know exactly how you feel and still constantly worry if it was the right decision. There’s no real way of knowing without a crystal ball.
I’m sorry you have to face this as well but am sending lots of support and love your way it is such a horrible situation we have all been thrown into xx
Hi Mummy - someone can change a plea from not guilty to guilty if they decide to, the main problem being that you do lose a small amount of leniency at sentencing if it's not from the start of procedures in court. It's actually quite common - I volunteer at our law courts supporting witnesses and very regularly the witness comes along and is then told that the defendant has changed their plea right at the last minute, so the witness can go home. If there are witnesses it looks positive that they are spared the ordeal of giving evidence but even without witnesses a plea change to guilty can be looked at favourably as time and expense in court has been saved. The two barristers, both defence and prosecution, will put their heads together too and possibly advise the defendant. This can be for any number of reasons but there will still be a small reduction in the sentence because of pleading guilty, even if at that late stage.
As for it going to crown, even though it's more waiting it does give time to get some character references together and for pre-sentence reports which could be mitigation in your son's favour, so it does have some benefits. I know it prolongs the agony for you all though xx
As for it going to crown, even though it's more waiting it does give time to get some character references together and for pre-sentence reports which could be mitigation in your son's favour, so it does have some benefits. I know it prolongs the agony for you all though xx
It was such a difficult decision for him to make on the spot today because even though he hasn't intentionally downloaded these images the fact still remains that he was in possession of them so really the outcome is not likely to change! Solicitor told us that if he pled guilty his likely sentence would be community order and 5 years on registers. I worry now that pleading not guilty will result in a harsher sentence (if that makes sense).
I've all sorts of feelings going on right now, on one hand I'm so pleased he decided to fight his case and on the other thinking this could drag on for another year and receive a worse sentence, whereas by that time he could of already completed a year on the registers had he'd pled guilty.. hope this makes sense x x
I've all sorts of feelings going on right now, on one hand I'm so pleased he decided to fight his case and on the other thinking this could drag on for another year and receive a worse sentence, whereas by that time he could of already completed a year on the registers had he'd pled guilty.. hope this makes sense x x
That makes total sense, and I have the same feelings and thought process as you!
OH also had images not asked for but it's so hard to argue intention. He tried to explain this in his interview but the OIC couldn't care less.
I just hope that we've both made the right decisions and have a peaceful future. A lot of it feels like gambling. How does your son feel about his decision? Xx
OH also had images not asked for but it's so hard to argue intention. He tried to explain this in his interview but the OIC couldn't care less.
I just hope that we've both made the right decisions and have a peaceful future. A lot of it feels like gambling. How does your son feel about his decision? Xx
He is ok at the moment, he feels stressed in the sense he wanted to plead guilty so we could be done and now worry that cyber report could find more images/videos.
It is an absolute gamble I would of felt this exact way coming from court had he of pleaded guilty I would always be thinking 'he should of fought for his innocence' x x
It is an absolute gamble I would of felt this exact way coming from court had he of pleaded guilty I would always be thinking 'he should of fought for his innocence' x x
I honestly think whatever decision is made, we'll always be going round in our heads wondering if it was the best thing to do and thinking a lot of "what ifs".
We will never truly know until we come out the other side, and even then, we'd have no idea what the outcome would've been if we'd done differently.
It feels like an unfair and cruel world. I truly hope for the best outcome for you xx
We will never truly know until we come out the other side, and even then, we'd have no idea what the outcome would've been if we'd done differently.
It feels like an unfair and cruel world. I truly hope for the best outcome for you xx
Our solicitor told my husband to plead guilty as the images were on his phone even though he never searched or asked for them .There was never any talk about a not guilty plea and as my husband has never been in trouble before he took what the solicitor said . Also I think it would of cost thousands if it gas went to crown x
So we went with the cyber expert route I don't regret it as I needed to know it had never been searched for, he was dealt with at magistrates, he was found guilty judge basically said you may not have searched for it but it had been on your phone and you didn't report it to the police, it was 5 images he was given 1 year register 1 year supervision and 180 hours community payback he gave the heavier sentence for the community payback as we had went with not guilty
Molly - We were terrified by the OIC into pretty much pleading guilty, in the sense that the evidence was there he was going to get convicted, hence why my poor child felt he had to plead guilty. I'm not entirely convinced that his not guilty plea is going to have any bearing in this but I do feel grateful he choose to fight his case regardless of the outcome, his attitude at present is 'mum I've already lost everything, I've nothing else left to lose' he made me cry at court saying this
Inturmoil - did your solicitor give any indication of what his sentence would of been had he'd of pleaded guilty? I feel, with the expection of a few more images in our case 40 images/videos found in over 80,000 downloads, that our cases are similar by not reporting images! This is such a harsh lesson to learn. I would of preferred it handled at magistrates as I personally feel it could of been a lessor sentence but solicitor felt they would magistrates would go to the absolute maximum of their powers.
Such a shitty journey we are currently on x x
Inturmoil - did your solicitor give any indication of what his sentence would of been had he'd of pleaded guilty? I feel, with the expection of a few more images in our case 40 images/videos found in over 80,000 downloads, that our cases are similar by not reporting images! This is such a harsh lesson to learn. I would of preferred it handled at magistrates as I personally feel it could of been a lessor sentence but solicitor felt they would magistrates would go to the absolute maximum of their powers.
Such a shitty journey we are currently on x x
Hi, my son pleaded not guilty at the magistrates and crown court. When a barrister was appointed for a trial is wasn't until almost 2 years later he changed his plea to guilty. When he was informed it would be down to a jury to decide if he is guilty and if unsuccessful there was a real possibility of prison. When sentenced, nealy three years later the reduction in sentence was still available. The judge confirmed while later than expected, he was still entitled to receive the reduction xx
Roughly speaking, you would get a third off any sentence for pleading guilty at the first plea hearing in magistrates. If you wait til it goes to crown court, then that goes down to a quarter off.
But the judges have a lot of discretion over this. For the ones who wait until the day of the trial, before pleading guilty, they might only get a 10% reduction or none at all. That is because the legal system has gone to all the time and expense of setting up a trial by that point.
Really the reductions are there as an incentive, to keep court costs down to a minimum.
But the judges have a lot of discretion over this. For the ones who wait until the day of the trial, before pleading guilty, they might only get a 10% reduction or none at all. That is because the legal system has gone to all the time and expense of setting up a trial by that point.
Really the reductions are there as an incentive, to keep court costs down to a minimum.
Solicitor said worse case scenario would have been longer on register she felt the community pay back was excessive and a direct result of us pleading not guilty