R v L (2024)
Rebecca Penfold, led by Nina Grahame KC of Garden Court North and instructed by Lisa Morton of Morton’s Solicitors, represented a 14-year-old girl on indictment alleging the attempted murder of her 14-year old friend, possession of a bladed article and threats to kill.
The child defendant had been granted an intermediary for the entirety of her trial early in proceedings, with leading silk granted five weeks before the start of the trial. Significant work was undertaken on the child’s behalf relating to psychiatric evidence and necessary extensive liaison with the child’s carers and local authority staff. This intensive work, in the context of complex disclosure issues, founded discussions which ultimately resulted in acceptable guilty pleas entered to non-fatal strangulation and linked offences with the Crown offering no evidence on the attempted murder count on the first day of trial.
The young defendant received a Youth Rehabilitation Order by way of disposal.
The case was covered by the Manchester Evening News.
