Our 36-year-old client who is a mother of 3 was charged by the Police with two counts of falsely representing to police an act or event calling for investigation and one count of stalk or intimidate intending to cause fear of physical or mental harm (personal violence).
As a consequence of being charged, our client was placed on administrative leave from her employment due to her need for a Working with Children Clearance. Furthermore, our client had recently lost custody of her two special needs children due to the charges being made out against her and her worsening mental health. Naturally, these charges caused a significant amount of distress to our client.
After being charged, our client contacted our Sydney Office and benefited from an informative free consultation with our defence specialist lawyer Bashir El Kheir. During the conference, our Bashir diligently explained all the various options in responding to the charges, and effectively identified the relevance of her underlying mental health impairments to that of the Police allegations.
Our client instructed our Bashir to make a mental health application under section 14. If prepared carefully and submitted effectively to the court, a successful mental health application will result in the dismissal of all charges, and the avoidance of a criminal conviction. Further, this will also result in discharge with or without conditions to continue treatment.
In preparation for the section 14 application, our Bashir briefed a highly specialised psychologist to provide an expert report, and prepared cogent and persuasive written submissions in support of the application. The Magistrate at Campbelltown Local Court quickly agreed with Bashir’s persuasive arguments in court. Ultimately, the Court dismissed all charges against our client, and discharged her into the care of the providers whom she was already seeking treatment from.
Our client was extremely relieved by the result as she expressed that she could now move on with her life and look to gaining custody of her children and getting back into the workforce.