GT Stewart represented a client who had a previous conviction for wounding with intent (S.18 Offences Against the Person Act 1861) against his mother following which he was given a Restraining Order at Leeds Crown Court which prohibited him from attending at her address. The client was arrested and charged with an offence of common assault (S.39 Criminal Justice Act 1988) after he threatened his mother with a meat cleaver, criminal damage (S.1 of the Criminal damage Act 1971) after he lodged a pair of scissors in the complainant’s door and breach of the Restraining Order (S5(1) Protection from Harassment Act 1997).

The client pleaded guilty to all of the offences and was concerned that he had breached the restraining order every year since it had been imposed and he nearly always received a custodial sentence. At the time of the sentence hearing, he was also in breach of a suspended sentence for a further breach of the Order. Our main focus was to try to persuade the court not to activate the suspended sentence order and not to send our client into custody whilst also ensuring that he received full credit for his guilty plea and that his time on remand was taken into account when the court imposed their sentence.

We were able to put mitigation before the court which highlighted our client’s particular vulnerabilities and difficulties which the court ought to take into account when considering an appropriate sentence along with the fact that our client’s mother, who was also our client’s carer, had contacted him and invited him to stay at her address. The court agreed with our submissions and did not activate the suspended sentence order but rather imposed 30 days of Rehabilitation Activities and a requirement to pay the victim surcharge.

Our client was represented by Asmah Khalid of our Leeds Crime Team.