Our client had been charged with two offences of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and an offence of possession of a Class B drug.

Now an adult, these offences took place when our client was a child.  We insisted that our client was referred to the National Referral Mechanism as we had concerns that our client was a victim of modern day slavery at the time of the offences. Following an investigation by the Competent Authority, it was confirmed that there were Conclusive Grounds to believe that our client was in fact a victim of modern day slavery at the time.

In light of this decision, we made written representations that our client had a defence under s.45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and that in accordance with Crown Prosecution Service guidance, the Crown should not proceed with the case against our client. After considering our representations, the Crown confirmed that they would be offering no evidence and a formal not guilty plea was recorded.

Our client was represented by Lynn Roberts and Sabrina Neves of our Croydon Team and our in house barrister, Jodie Mole.