We represented a young person of previous good character who had been charged with an offence of affray. A member of the public filmed the incident and upon review of the footage, it became clear that the complainant in the matter was the aggressor. We made representations to the Crown Prosecution Service in which we argued that the offence of affray was not made out in law. We also referred them to the language used by the complainant, an adult, towards our young client as well as the complainant’s behaviour throughout the footage. Despite our representations, the Crown Prosecution Service maintained that they were proceeding with the case against our client. However, a week before the trial was due to take place, the Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the matter on the basis that they had insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction meaning that our client remained a young person of good character.

Our client was represented by Sabrina Neves, a solicitor in our specialist Youth Team.