Defendant Acquitted of Attempted Murder and Section 18 GBH Following Trial
Kevin Jones successfully defended a client acquitted of Attempted Murder and Section 18 GBH. Following a trial on 13th May at Stafford Crown Court, the client, an 18-year-old defendant, was acquitted after the jury returned a Not Guilty verdict within a matter of hours.
The case involved three defendants, all charged with Attempted Murder. On the morning of the trial, the two co-defendants entered guilty pleas to Section 18 Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), which were accepted by the Crown. The client, however, maintained his innocence and proceeded to trial.
During the proceedings, the Crown sought to admit the client’s previous convictions for knife crime, which were successfully introduced as bad character evidence. Despite this, the defence conducted a rigorous cross-examination of the complainant and undertook a careful analysis of the CCTV evidence, highlighting significant evidential weaknesses in the prosecution’s case.
The client exercised his right not to give evidence, and following a persuasive closing speech that identified the Crown’s evidential difficulties, the jury swiftly returned a Not Guilty verdict.
This outcome underscores the importance of thorough trial preparation, strategic advocacy, and forensic analysis of evidence in securing justice for defendants facing serious allegations.
