We represented a young person who had been charged with an offence of possession of a bladed article.

Our client was a passenger in a vehicle with three other individuals. When the police stopped the vehicle, a bag was found which contained a knife. At his first appearance, our client indicated a not guilty plea and his case was sent to the Crown Court.

We subsequently made representations to the Crown that they had insufficient evidence to prove that our client had committed an offence, however, they maintained that they would be proceeding with the matter. Despite this, we invited the Court to list our client’s case for a hearing so that we could make an application to dismiss. The Crown subsequently asked the Court to delay the application to dismiss so that they could conduct forensic testing on the knife. We opposed the application and after considering our submissions, the Court refused the Crown’s application to adjourn the hearing.

In light of this refusal, and the lack of evidence against our client, the Crown offered no evidence and a formal not guilty verdict was recorded by the Court. If our client had been convicted of this offence, he would have been subject to the mandatory minimum sentence of four months detention in light of his previous convictions.

Our client was represented by Sabrina Neves of our East Dulwich Office and in Court by our in house advocates, Sarah Memmi and Tom Mayall.