This is a case study on a theft offence resulting in a withdrawal of the charge.
What is alleged to have occured?
Our client was an employee carpenter at a large construction company. A co-accused employee stole an electric nail-gun valued at $700 from employer and put it in our client’s back pack. The co-accused told our client that he had permission from the manager to use it over long-weekend. The manager was both our client and the co-accused’s boss.
Two supervisors saw the theft take place and waited to see who would carry the backpack out. Our client was dismissed from employment for theft. The co-accused made a statement against our client indicating that he was pressured into it by our client (who disputes this) and indicates it was the client who lied to him.
What happened at court?
We represented the client at the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court for the charge of Theft.
A summary case conference was held which allowed lengthy negotiations with prosecutions in relation to the evidence. The Prosecution ultimately accepted that the only evidence against the accused was that of a co-accused who has a motive to lie.
We also sought for co-accused’s prior convictions to be looked into and it became obvious that unlike our client, the co-accused had prior convictions for dishonesty (including, most recently, theft of power tools from another job site).
What was the result?
The Prosecution agreed to withdraw all charges without proceeding to a contested hearing.
What is alleged to have occured?
Our client was an employee carpenter at a large construction company. A co-accused employee stole an electric nail-gun valued at $700 from employer and put it in our client’s back pack. The co-accused told our client that he had permission from the manager to use it over long-weekend. The manager was both our client and the co-accused’s boss.
Two supervisors saw the theft take place and waited to see who would carry the backpack out. Our client was dismissed from employment for theft. The co-accused made a statement against our client indicating that he was pressured into it by our client (who disputes this) and indicates it was the client who lied to him.
What happened at court?
We represented the client at the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court for the charge of Theft.
A summary case conference was held which allowed lengthy negotiations with prosecutions in relation to the evidence. The Prosecution ultimately accepted that the only evidence against the accused was that of a co-accused who has a motive to lie.
We also sought for co-accused’s prior convictions to be looked into and it became obvious that unlike our client, the co-accused had prior convictions for dishonesty (including, most recently, theft of power tools from another job site).
What was the result?
The Prosecution agreed to withdraw all charges without proceeding to a contested hearing.
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 25/02/2013
