Philip Meredith, instructed by Stephen Langdell of Bishop and Light Solicitors, has helped a father avoid prison after he was arrested for going out armed with a taser and a knife. As the Judge, Mr Recorder Collins, noted, the client had 12 previous convictions for 29 offences, and he could easily have faced up to 10 years in prison for these particular charges.
The client admitted having the weapons and an amount of cocaine on him when he was searched by police after they had been called to answer reports of a disturbance in Coldean in the early hours of the 17th September last year.
He admitted to the possession of both the weapons and the controlled substance and pleaded guilty. Mr Meredith was able to show the client regretted “his lack of proper thinking in relation to this incident”, and that his client’s first priority had been to look after his daughter.
In addition, Mr Meredith argued the client had repeatedly displayed his desire to help other people, most notably by taking on a new apprentice at work.
In passing sentence the Judge said:
“There’s a difference between being on the streets with these items and having armed yourself with them because of a concern that your daughter has raised. Your daughter had called, concerned that she was being threatened. If you turn up to a disturbance armed with serious and unpleasant weapons like this, it’s a matter of luck that you don’t make the situation worse. Your lack of understanding of the risks of your actions is of concern to me.”
Rather than imposing a custodial sentence the judge imposed a 200 hour community sentence for having the weapons.
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