Our client, who is 57-years of age, pleaded guilty to a charge of shoplifting and was sentenced in the Downing Centre Local Court.
In May, our client was shopping in the Sydney CBD when she placed various items including women’s beauty products and makeup into her hand bag. She then attempted to leave without paying.
Police spoke with her and ultimately charged her with shoplifting also known as larceny.
For her whole life, she has always been a person of good character and has never interacted with police or the court system previously.
She is a person who has volunteered in the community regularly, opens her home to international students to stay and supports a number of charity organisations.
At the time, she was under significant pressure at work and her marriage was turbulent. Her mental health was at a decline and her actions were out of character for her.
These issues became immediately obvious after she came into our office for a free first appointment with our criminal lawyer, Tayla Regan.
Our team used these same points in developing her case for sentence so that the Magistrate becomes aware of her life circumstances before deciding on a penalty. This way, together with our preparation of having a compelling psychologist report, apology letter, good character letters, her working with children’s clearance and evidence of voluntary work she has committed to in the past, we were completely prepared- maximising her chances of avoiding a criminal conviction even after pleading guilty to the offence of larceny.
Our lawyer, Tayla Regan was well prepared and presented our client’s case in such a convincing way that the Court was convinced to not impose a criminal conviction on our client as a sentence. As a result, our client received a non-conviction in the form of a Conditional Release Order with a 12-month good behaviour bond period.