Breach of Court Orders
LEGAL EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE
We frequently represent defendants charged with offences of breaching court orders. These include matters such as the following:
- Breach of non-molestation orders
- Breach of restraining orders
- Breach of community orders
- Breach of suspended sentence orders
- Breach of criminal behaviour orders
- Breach of bail
- Deferred sentences
It may be that you wish to contest the breach of order or that in certain circumstances reasonable excuse exists. You may merely need your circumstances explained to the court to try and mitigate the severity of the penalty which may arise. Either way, Nelson Guest are experienced at handling these cases. Often, we can try and liaise with other professional services such as the Probation Service in attempt to assess whether the breach must proceed or whether there is any possibility of the matter being handled in a different way to court proceedings.
Being represented in cases such as these is becoming ever more important where the starting point for breaching a suspended sentence order tends towards immediate custody. We have frequently managed to argue that such immediate periods of custody are not in the interests of justice to impose (where the facts and mitigation support such submissions).
Community orders can often be managed less than satisfactorily by a probation service which has been the subject of various failed attempts at privatisation by the current government leaving it fragile and struggling to cope. This can often mean that the issue of whether there has been a breach is called into question, especially where the Probation Service are not able to satisfy the court that you were personally at fault. It is important that defendants are not lulled into a sense of believing that because they are told there has been a breach, that it must naturally follow that there has been.
For a free 10-minute consultation to discuss your case, contact Nelson Guest on 020 8309 5010.