Further info on my law question

My mate over msn today asked me a question which i did not know the answer
to.

Basically he has been caught stealing money from his employees.
He got arrested and told the police he did it.

The other day he got some summons to attend court. As far as i know there
was 3 summons in the same envelope. Now he is worried. I dont condemn what
he has done as he knows it was wrong. As its his first offence what do you
think will happen to him?

Any advice i can relay to him will be gratefull

Thanks

[Chris W]

that really does depend on a lot of factors....

what has he been charged with? Are there mitigating circumstances? Is he going to plead guilty/ not guilty? Is he appearing at a magistrates or county court? What kind of legal representation does he have, PDS or private?

Magistrates court and pleading guilty. I dont think he has a lawyer. And he took about £700-£800

[Chris W]

Well, the magistrates court can only give out a maximum of a £5000 fine, 200 hours community service (i believe they are now called community rehabilitation orders), or 6months inside.

The mitigating circumstances are probably the key in this case- a pds solicitor can probably think of a few based on the facts of the case.

Magistrates courts are very reluctant to give out custodial sentences (too much paperwork ) but if your friend has some seriously good mitigating circumstances then he can request to go to county court infront of a jury and if there are factors that will appeal to "human kindness" ie, 12 public juror members rather than three magistrates then that is an option that he can consider.

If you want to PM me the full details of the case i can do a proper analysis (i've just finished a law degree ) but i can appreicate that you and he may not wish to share these facts on a public forum

MB

Any chance we could talk over msn please

[Rob]

Theft from an employer is often taken quite serisously. It's an abuse of a position of trust.

Someone will only end up in crown court, if they were
1) pleading not guilty, and elected for trial by jury,
2) the magistrates were referring them to the higher court for sentencing because the punshment they wanted to issue exceeded the maximums they could dish out. (no trial by jury on this case, as guilt has already been determined).

That he has admitted guilt to the police, suggests the evidence is clear cut. Little point in winding everyone up in trying to backtrack at court. He's going to have to take it like a man.

These days penalties despite the nature of the offence seem to have little severity. IMO, For a first offence I'd be very surprised if he's given any form of custodial sentence.

His bigger concern will be a criminal record, of theft from an employer. Who then would want to give him a job

Well yes he pleaded guilty and explained the reasons.

I will tell everyone. He stole the money because he was worried about court costs to get access to his daughter. He was worried if he did not have enough money he might not see her again.

Originally Posted by Angelus

Well yes he pleaded guilty and explained the reasons.

I will tell everyone. He stole the money because he was worried about court costs to get access to his daughter. He was worried if he did not have enough money he might not see her again.

that is such a shame and can be quoted as a mitigating circumstance, that, & readily pleading guilty should be in his favour.

It doesn't alter the facts of the crime, though and I think the minimum he can expect is having to pay costs & compensation.

As has been said, the long term implication of having a criminal record for such an offence, will be the worst punishment.

I think he is just worried about prison really

[cookie_365]

Originally Posted by homealone

that is such a shame and can be quoted as a mitigating circumstance, that, & readily pleading guilty should be in his favour.

It doesn't alter the facts of the crime, though and I think the minimum he can expect is having to pay costs & compensation.

As has been said, the long term implication of having a criminal record for such an offence, will be the worst punishment.

I doubt that that'd impress the mags/DJ

Your friend needs a solicitor, not advice from us.

[zoombini]

Best advise would be to clear out his desk/locker as he is unlikely to be there much longer.

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

Well, the magistrates court can only give out a maximum of a £5000 fine, 200 hours community service (i believe they are now called community rehabilitation orders), or 6months inside.

The mitigating circumstances are probably the key in this case- a pds solicitor can probably think of a few based on the facts of the case.

Magistrates courts are very reluctant to give out custodial sentences (too much paperwork ) but if your friend has some seriously good mitigating circumstances then he can request to go to county court infront of a jury and if there are factors that will appeal to "human kindness" ie, 12 public juror members rather than three magistrates then that is an option that he can consider.

If you want to PM me the full details of the case i can do a proper analysis (i've just finished a law degree ) but i can appreicate that you and he may not wish to share these facts on a public forum

MB

I thought county courts were for civil matters not criminal? thought the option would be crown court,but would the jury have anything to do with a guilty plea?

[allieyoung666]

I know when it happened at work , she got put in prisoion for 30days to think about what she had done, but I know she had done other stuff as well, has he?? And do you know why he took for example to feed a habit etc.... as the courts will probally give a lighter sentence, I am sorry to hear this. And I agree with the above, but why wasnt he been made to clear out his desk already if it was such a large amount.

[Jules]

It was mentioned earlier in the thread Allie that he took it to pay to for legal costs to get access to his daughter

[Halcyon]

Well I guess atleast that is better than him using it to feed a crack addiction.
Still, stealing is wrong at the end of the day whatever the reason.