The Court: Moorabbin Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Tom Woodward
The Charges:
The Allegations:
Our client was a 22-year-old male at the time of the offence. It was alleged that he was trespassing on a kindergarten day care centre on several occasions, as well as leaving threatening notes and obscene drawings directed at the staff working at the kindergarten day care centre.
Our client was arrested and interviewed, during which he made admissions to having visited the kindergarten. However, he denied leaving any threatening notes or obscene drawings. The client was subsequently charged with the offences of Stalking and Trespass and was released on bail to appear at court to answer the charges.
Our client had severe mental health issues and was highly affected by the nature of the charges. He chose to leave the country and address his problems. Three years later, he returned to Australia, having sought assistance in the interim period.
The police eventually caught up with our client and charged him with Failure to Answer Bail for his failure to appear in court to answer the charges. The client sought our firm’s assistance. Our client’s goal was to receive the lowest penalty possible, given that he had already admitted some wrongdoing.
At Court:
Our solicitor sought to negotiate our client’s charges with the police prosecution, given the client’s age at the time of the offences and given his lack of criminal history.
Concerning the stalking charges, our solicitor argued that the alleged threats were not sufficiently directed toward a particular staff member to be proven. Furthermore, it could not be confirmed that our client was the one who made those threats. Upon review of the police evidence, the prosecutor was eventually persuaded to see our point of view and decided to withdraw the stalking charges.
Regarding the trespassing, despite our client having admitted going to the kindergarten, our solicitor argued that this only related to one single occasion, not nine. There was evidence that someone had stayed there on other occasions, but there was insufficient evidence to show that it was our client.
With the failure to appear at court charge, our solicitor advised the prosecutor that our client had significant mental health concerns and that he had taken positive action in addressing these issues. Our solicitor tendered supporting medical material regarding our client’s treatment with a psychologist.
As a result of our solicitor’s strenuous negotiations and detailed analysis of the police evidence, our client was able to negotiate the charges down to two minor charges: one charge of Trespass and the second charge of Failure to Answer Bail.
Following those negotiations, the entire landscape of our client’s situation had changed. The prospect of a Diversion was raised with the prosecution, and they agreed and filed a diversion notice.
Will a Diversion appear in a Criminal Record?
The Diversion Program is operated by the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria to enable first-time offenders to avoid receiving a criminal record and divert them away from the criminal justice system. Successful completion of the program results in the charges being marked as “discharged.” This means that if a diversion is granted and successfully fulfilled, the charges will be discharged, and there will be no record of it on a person’s criminal history.
The Outcome:
The matter went before the Magistrate, who reviewed all the documents, including the diversion questionnaire and supporting material, and heard submissions from our solicitor. The Magistrate then granted the client an opportunity to participate in a diversion program.
Our client was entered into a diversion plan, which was to expire in 12 months. He was required to fulfil several conditions, and if successful, the charge would be discharged at the end of the period.
This was a fantastic result for our client as his situation had changed dramatically following our solicitor’s professional and strong negotiations with the police prosecution. Our client initially thought that his options were limited, given his charges, and he was grateful that we were able to secure him the opportunity of avoiding a criminal record.
