2 years later - Not Guilty

[guttedmum]

I haven't been on the site for a while but just wanted to share our good news so others may not lose hope. My son had a not guilty verdict yesterday, jury was ready to provide their verdict before the judge finished summing up and Not Guilty returned within half an hour.

My son was accused two years ago, interviewed and the then solicitor said he thought it highly likely there would be a NFA. No such luck, our world fell apart 14 months later when he was charged. This site then provided me with a wealth of information and much needed support at the time. We then lived through a further 9 months of hell before appearing in court last week.

We used Chris Saltrese Solicitors, again a recommendation from this site. From contacting Chris it felt like a weight had been lifted and we were no longer alone, supported by a wealth of experience. Chris has a trainee solicitor, Sarah Bachus, who is in her last year of training and she, in the main, collated and managed our case. She was absolutely fantastic, no stone left unturned, so thorough and yet she was so supportive. She responded to any query I had immediately and not just technical responses but also to put my mind at rest. For me the client support was as important as her expertise and she was superb with both. Chris again readily available and was with us on our last day in court providing his wealth of experience and opinions from which we could gain confidence.

Finally I cannot praise and recommend our barrister Maria Masellis of Linnenhall Chambers, Chester, enough - she was absolutely fantastic both in and outside of court. Confident, direct, all facts memorised and to hand, superb in cross examination, unearthing lie after lie. Absolutely fantastic on her feet, commanding the court, engaging with the judge, jury and prosecution - you couldn't take your eyes off her. My family members were there in court and every one of them were in awe of her style and approach. She was also so approachable throughout the whole week and explained everything every step of the way.

So don't lose hope, get the best representation and hang on in there, the nightmare can end even when taken to the ultimate court appearance.

[Franticwithworry]

So pleased to be handing out the bananas guttedmum -



Your son's team was the same as my husband's, Chris Saltrese and Maria Masselis, and he must have been supporting you in court when his PA, Amy, called us with the good news that CPS are not proceeding in my husband's case. They've had a wonderful week! You are right, the whole firm is fantastic and we are so pleased for your son that he got the right result and for you as a mum. As wives and mothers our hearts bleed for our men when they go through this most awful of experiences.

Your experiences of Chris and company and Maria Masselis mirror ours - we cannot praise them highly enough. Always approachable, extremely knowlegeable the ultimate professionals. I'm almost sorry that I didn't get to see Maria in action!! I hope you and your family can now pick up the pieces and get your lives back on the track they should have been on all along.

[Peter1975]

Fantastic news Guttedmum and thank you for updating us. It's always reassuring for others to hear positive outcomes..

Good to have yet another recommendation for team Saltrese too.

You have certainly earned the traditional celebratory bananas.

[Rights Fighter]

Fabulous News gutted Mum! It's doubly fabulous when we get get two great recommendations relating to Chris Saltrese and his team, and in such a short space of time!

You might be feeling positive and upbeat now. If you find yourselves having mood swings and think you are literally, going mad, please believe me when I say you are not. It's all perfectly normal for the abnormal situation you are in.

[Aidy]

Fabulous News gutted Mum! It's doubly fabulous when we get get two great recommendations relating to Chris Saltrese and his team, and in such a short space of time!

You might be feeling positive and upbeat now. If you find yourselves having mood swings and think you are literally, going mad, please believe me when I say you are not. It's all perfectly normal for the abnormal situation you are in.

Do NOT underestimate how important getting the right people to assist you in these cases!!!!

Wonderful news X

[guttedmum]

Thanks all.

Rights Fighter you are so right. Although hugely relieved on Friday, there is no feeling of euphoria. My son's reputation dragged through the mud, two years of exhausting worry for a situation that should never have come to court. Although Not Guilty he does not walk away 'proved innocent' and it has a much longer impact on him than just the last two years - DBS checks at a deeper level that will potentially show his history, issues with entry into countries like America etc. although Not Guilty the stain remains for something he did not do.

Fortunately my son has believed justice would be done the whole way through and therefore has not allowed it to bring him down - couple of moments i.e. when charged when he wobbled and was tearful but on the whole has coped admirably, carrying on with his life and managing to pass two years of his university course. I think I did all the worrying for him!

We are obviously financially hit and emotionally drained and you walk away without any comeback on the accuser. However, we are a close and strong family so will move on. Again taking the advice from this site, we will put it behind us rather than dwelling on it and letting her affect us even more.

Thank you so much for this site, it helped me when I felt I had nowhere to turn.

[Casehardened]

May I add my congratulations for surviving your ordeal & thanks for the recommendations for your legal team.

[guttedmum]

Not quite behind us as we had hoped

Well, the celebrations ended very quickly. As we foster (2 teenage boys) when my son was charged social services very nearly moved the children and my son had to stay away from his home. This was a terrible 9 months for us all, he was innocent of what he had been accused yet in the eyes of the SS he was a danger to the foster children, despite even the police at the review saying it was unrelated and they did not see a risk.

So imagine our delight to be able to tell SS, that not only was he found not guilty in less than 30 mins (and that was only because the judge was carrying out another sentencing - the jury had said they were ready with a unaminous verdict before the judge finished summing up). We felt some satisfaction that it proved what we had told them all along that it was a case full of lies and should never have come to court.

Assuming all would be back to normal our son came home immediately after the verdict. However SS contacted us at the end of this week to tell us they had held a 'case meeting' and they want to conduct a risk assessment. When pushed to question the content of the risk assessment, we were told that the conclusion was that our son would not be able to be left unsupervised with the boys if they were to remain in our care.

This feels a huge blow - we had made a decision to put it behind us, not dwell on our feelings toward the complainant and move on and to try to go back to being a 'normal family'. This however would mean we cannot return to normal life, we would always feel that we were living our life as if he was a potential suspect. I appreciate that a Not Guilty verdict is not a verdict of Innocence but this feels so unfair - our son continues to suffer the stigma of this accusation.

It had been great to see the boys having a kick about in the garden this week and life seem normal. That lasted all of a week, the football season ticket we had just bought one of the boys to accompany my son to the local football matches is of no value. The impact of being falsely accused just does not go away, even when found not guilty

Has anybody any experience of life after a not guilty particularly in terms of dealing with SS.

[Peter1975]

Hi Guttedmum,

I'm very sorry but sadly not surprised to hear this. I have no personal experience of SS but I have seen numerous examples in the past and you are completely right. It bloody well isn't fair.

You really need to take some legal advice from a family solicitor about challenging the risk assessment, I would say on the grounds that resuming a normal life would benefit all concerned. The fostering is possibly making SS extra cautious, not that they need an excuse to be completely risk averse. They never seem to care that forcing siblings away from one another or a loving parent will definitely cause some harm.

In your favour, you have already shown that you have complied with SS wishes and it could be argued that you have actually prioritised the foster boys over your own son.


Sometimes there are courses you can complete about spotting signs of abuse/grooming which can help. ( Assuming that is the "risk" they see - possible they just fear your son will be a bad influence or show them porn?? - I have no idea how their minds work )


If the judge said something like "he can leave the courtroom without a stain on his character" try and get the barrister to put it in writing. It might help a bit.

What I don't know but sadly suspect is that the LA has legal responsibility for the foster children and wouldn't need to take you to court to remove them as they would if they were your biological children.


Are you a member of any fostering forums? I'm sorry I don't know of any. Right's Fighter's PAFAA is the best on the internet for false allegations. ( see my signature )

Family sols usually give half an hours free advice. It is often advised that you instruct one out of the local area as they won't be reliant on local SS giving them any work.

Good luck.

[Franticwithworry]

Oh, guttedmum, I'm so sorry to read this, but sadly, like Peter, not surprised.

His advice is what I would say in terms of having a talk with a family law solicitor. Is there any way, for the time being that someone else can go with the boys to the football matches too, to 'supervise'? Unfortunately, the SS work on a different basis from the courts and use the 'balance of probability test' and seem to think that it is always 'probable' that someone accused is a risk regardless of the legal outcome.

Please try to think of it as just another hurdle to be overcome before this is truly over. It's possible that they risk assessment that they want to carry out is their version of dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's and if you continue to work with them as you have up to now, that they will assess your son as 'no risk' or just want to keep an eye on things for a while and reduce their involvement over time.

As I say, a chat with a family lawyer might help put your mind at rest, but sadly SS will continue to be involved as long as THEY decide to be. It's not unknown for them to send people merrily on their way after an assessment, and I have everything crossed for you that this is the case here. I hope it goes without saying that there is always support here if you need it - there, I said it anyway! :-)

[Peter1975]

Thanks Frantic, spot on as ever.

Reading back, it's not clear whether there is to be a new risk assessment or if SS are relying the previous one. Verdicts don't mean very much to them. I hope that Frantic is right and they just need to go through the process of signing you off.

Either way, there is no choice but to work with SS to find a solution and as FWW wisely says, those with the right attitude and an open mind usually find that SS reduce their involvement over time.

Hopefully things will settle down and SS will be reasonable given that the two boys are teenagers with their own agency, capable of speaking up for themselves.

[ppm]

I hope all works out. I had something happen like this in Ireland. Now matter what I did, my exe hit me with new allegations. You try your best and be the best. I hope SS give back, once you get a NG verdict then that should be it. I hope it worked out.