We represented a young male defendant who suffers from multiple mental health and behavioural disorders. He was accused of three counts of non-fatal strangulation and the theft of a watch from a female friend with whom he was residing temporarily.

Our client gave a detailed account of the case, including the complainant’s own mental health condition and her recent discharge from hospital. Given these circumstances, the investigating officers and prosecution had a duty to investigate the allegation and conduct a fair and thorough enquiry. This included assessing the complainant’s ability to provide a credible account and securing available CCTV footage, which our client stated was relevant to the alleged incident.

Having raised disclosure requirements, we persistently pursued disclosure requests at various stages of the proceedings. This included:

• The Magistrates' Court first appearance
• The Plea and Case Management Hearing
• Submission of a Defence Case Statement
• A s8 disclosure application
• Filing an abuse of process argument

After initially opposing our submissions, the Crown offered no evidence, leading to not guilty verdicts on all counts against our client.

Our client was represented by Ruta Mikailaite, a solicitor in our City of London Extradition Team, and in Court by James Ortiz, counsel from Farringdon Chambers.