GT Stewart Solicitors represented a child aged 12, who has no previous convictions, charged with an offence of joint enterprise robbery. It was alleged that DS and his co-accused demanded the complainant hand over his designer bag and hat whilst being threatened by a knife. CCTV of the area identified possible suspects, all of whom were arrested, with one being in possession of a knife at the time. On arrest, DS made a significant statement that he was the one who committed the robbery but he did not sign the officer’s pocket notebook to that effect.
DS was charged, along with his co-accused, and appeared before Leeds Youth Court where he was represented by Michelle Stewart from our Leeds criminal defence team. A not guilty plea was entered by DS whilst his two co-accused pleaded guilty. The case was listed for trial and the issues in the case were confirmed as identification and the fact that DS did not understand that he was admitting to the robbery for which he was charged.
Leeds City Council used the facts of the robbery case to support their application for an Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction which would prevent DS from entering or remaining in Leeds City Centre for a year which would impose significant restrictions on him which included staying overnight with his father who lived in the city centre, or going shopping with his mum and other members of his family.
The case was listed for a contested hearing before Leeds Youth Court when DS was represented by Patricia Walker, a partner from our Leeds criminal defence team on a pro-bono basis. At the first hearing the Local Authority were advised of the issues in the robbery case and were invited to reconsider whether they wanted to continue with their application. The case was subsequently listed for a contested hearing, however, two days before the hearing, the Crown Prosecution discontinued the robbery offence against DS which totally undermined the Local authority application, which was also discontinued.
