Falsely accused after a night out - a blog

[Peter1975]

This was written by a member of accused.me. Worth a read at any stage of your journey.

https://15for15dealingwithafalsealle...wordpress.com/

[Franticwithworry]

Thank you for posting this. It's very powerful.

[stalked]

Absolutely superb! Beautifully written piece...articulates so well the experience of the writer. Many thanks to the author and to Peter for sharing on this forum.

stalked

[imsam]

REALLY interesting post, but not sure what happened to my computer, but I never got to read the end of the story...what happened at his court case?

Do any of you guys know what the usual sentence if found guilty for 'sexual assault' without penetration is?

Thanks Peter for posting this up

Sam

[Franticwithworry]

REALLY interesting post, but not sure what happened to my computer, but I never got to read the end of the story...what happened at his court case?

Do any of you guys know what the usual sentence if found guilty for 'sexual assault' without penetration is?

Thanks Peter for posting this up

Sam

He was found not guilty in 15 minutes.

The sentence depends on the law at the time if the offence amongst other things, so it depends if the accusation is historic and if the law has changed. If you look on the CPS website there's lots of information about sentencing there.

[stalked]

REALLY interesting post, but not sure what happened to my computer, but I never got to read the end of the story...what happened at his court case?

Do any of you guys know what the usual sentence if found guilty for 'sexual assault' without penetration is?

Thanks Peter for posting this up

Sam

at the end of the page, click earlier posts - counter intuitive, I know. I was in the same position.

[Pond31]

So much of this is a shared story. I wish those who instantly call the FA's "victims" could read it and see who the real victims are. Excellent peace and very well written.

[imsam]

at the end of the page, click earlier posts - counter intuitive, I know. I was in the same position.

Thanks Stalker, I'll read it later, its a great article

[imsam]

I have now read all of that wonderful link you put up Peter, thanks again for doing that,

One thing scared me, the cost of the trial £60,000.00 for a one and a half day trial If I do have to go to court I envisage a much longer trial for myself ( not sure if it was my solicitor who said a week, or if I read a similar case on this site that took a week) I have a private solicitor now who I have paid to come to the police station etc with me. Will I have to pay the cost of a long court hearing if found guilty? There is no way I could afford to pay that kind of money. I do earn a decent wage and do own my own house, could I still get legal aid? Sometimes the more I read on here the worse my situation seems to be, so although I am learning how to help myself, several things I have read have filled my with an awful sense of doom.

Can I go back to the original solicitor who was the one given to me at the police station in the first place? as I was on legal aid then. This new solicitor has only just seen me at his offices once and attended my last bail hearing , which I paid him for

[Peter1975]

I have now read all of that wonderful link you put up Peter, thanks again for doing that,

One thing scared me, the cost of the trial £60,000.00 for a one and a half day trial If I do have to go to court I envisage a much longer trial for myself ( not sure if it was my solicitor who said a week, or if I read a similar case on this site that took a week) I have a private solicitor now who I have paid to come to the police station etc with me. Will I have to pay the cost of a long court hearing if found guilty? There is no way I could afford to pay that kind of money. I do earn a decent wage and do own my own house, could I still get legal aid? Sometimes the more I read on here the worse my situation seems to be, so although I am learning how to help myself, several things I have read have filled my with an awful sense of doom.

Can I go back to the original solicitor who was the one given to me at the police station in the first place? as I was on legal aid then. This new solicitor has only just seen me at his offices once and attended my last bail hearing , which I paid him for

The short answer is probably but you may have to make contributions (which are capped and you would get back on acquittal) Legal aid is very complicated and I can't pretend to understand it but you would need to earn in the region of 50k or have a joint income of more than approx £100,000 to not qualify at all. I think this is the page you need to look at if you want to see if you pass the means test:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/criminal...-means-testing

Everyone is entitled to free police station legal advice when being interviewed including premier league footballers and billionaires but you would only get a legally aided solicitor for pre charge advice if you earn less than £99 a week.

I would say £60k is slightly expensive for a short trial but I have heard of some paying private sols much much more and with private sols you get nothing back even if you win. It is something of a myth that you get what you pay for, the majority of cases are fought and won on legal aid.

Hopefully you won't be charged but if you are it is important to get a good solicitor.

The most recommended private solicitor is Chris Saltrese who works nationwide.

On legal aid, Paul Legg of freemans in London is highly recommended. I hear nothing but good things about either of them.

They are both listed on this Google map.

[falselyaccused5]

Hello all

Firstly a big thank you to Pete, for sharing my blog, secondly to the user worrying about £60,000 court fees, that was my error. I didn't pay a penny as I was unemployable during those 15 months and therefore granted full legal aid.

The £60,000 I mentioned was the trial's cost to the taxpayer, in terms of barrister and judges wages, court fees etc.

Good luck to you all.

[Peter1975]

Firstly a big thank you to Pete, for sharing my blog.

Thank you for writing it falselyaccused5, I am sure it will help others here and I hope that writing it helped you too.

[Franticwithworry]

Adding my thanks here too, falselyaccused5, together with best wishes for your future.

[imsam]

Firstly a big thank you to Pete, for sharing my blog, secondly to the user worrying about £60,000 court fees, that was my error. I didn't pay a penny as I was unemployable during those 15 months and therefore granted full legal aid.

The £60,000 I mentioned was the trial's cost to the taxpayer, in terms of barrister and judges wages, court fees etc.

Good luck to you all.

THANK YOU FALSELY ACCUSED 5 for taking the time and trouble to write such a brilliant blog, I am sure it will be read over and over during the coming years by deeply distressed guys like myself and it will help them get through the agony in some small way, and I am glad of any relief I can get during these agonising months

Also thank you Peter for again, explaining everything so well for me.

I earn more than £50 K a year

Would you advise me to stay with the solicitor have now who I am paying, until I get an NFA or a charge, then change to Chris Saltrese , or stay with my solicitor but recommend one of the barristers from this site, not use the one my solicitor chooses ?
My solicitor is just a local criminal solicitor, but don't think he has any special experience in FA cases

[Peter1975]

Would you advise me to stay with the solicitor have now who I am paying, until I get an NFA or a charge, then change to Chris Saltrese , or stay with my solicitor but recommend one of the barristers from this site, not use the one my solicitor chooses ?
My solicitor is just a local criminal solicitor, but don't think he has any special experience in FA cases

I would say that as your current solicitor knows your case then yes, stay with him for now. You may not need to call on him anymore anyway unless police request a further interview or you can provide further evidence that may prevent a charge.

Only if you are charged do you really have a decision to make. Both the solicitors I mentioned come highly recommended and have gotten some great results. Please search daftmoo for some members testimony to this fact. I would contact both in the event you are charged, there is nothing stopping you paying Paul Legg privately.