Ophelia Hollway
This is a real case study by one of our lawyers. The person who is in charge of this area in the firm is Ophelia Hollway. Ophelia is a Senior Associate and LIV Accredited Criminal Law Specialist at Doogue + George. She has defended a wide range of allegations including sexual offences, drug offences, corporate crime, and driving matters, and served as instructing solicitor in the Coronial Inquest into the Death of Kumanjayi Walker.
View full profile →This is a case study on a successful diversion application for driving offences.
What is alleged to have occured?
Our client pulled in front of a vehicle illegally causing that car to brake suddenly and the car behind to collide into the rear of that vehicle. Our client was approached by the driver but she left the scene of the accident without exchanging details.
What happened at court?
She was charged with:
- Fail to stop at motor vehicle accident
- Fail to stop at accident and render assistance
- Fail to stop at accident and provide details
We represented the client at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
Our client was a young woman who, despite adversity, had managed to put herself through school and university with limited supports. She was now working as a teacher and volunteering in the community. Her offending was out of character. A criminal record would effect her future work prospects despite her quite impressive efforts to get as far in life as she had by her age.
Diversions are rarely approved for driving offences in these circumstances. We organised our client to get character references and other supporting documentation and contacted the Police to request a diversion with a detailed background of our client and the reasons why this was an appropriate case for diversion.
What was the result?
The Prosecution originally rejected the diversion request saying it was not appropriate. Despite this rejection, we addressed the concerns outlined by the Prosecution and they ultimately agreed to diversion for our client. This was a fantastic result for the client who now does not have a criminal record and demonstrates the value of quality legal representation in these circumstances.
DISCLAIMER: This is a real case study of an actual case from our files. Details pertaining to the client have been changed to protect their privacy. The sentence imposed and the charge have not been altered. These case studies are published to demonstrate real outcomes and give an indication of possible tariffs in Court. We do not guarantee a similar case on these charges will get the same result. Please note that we post results at our discretion, therefore while many case studies are average results, others are notable for their exceptional outcomes. PUBLISHED 14/05/2015
