Bail application – choke with intent to murder – Local Court
Our client was arrested and faced charges of attempt to strangle his 7 year old daughter with intent to murder, and a further charge of choke with intent to commit a serious offence on her.
He was arrested at his home an hour after this happened, and taken to the police station when he told police, “I just tried to murder my daughter by choking her”. He began chanting in another language making no sense and appeared mentally disturbed. Police immediately took him to the mental health ward at Blacktown hospital where he was assessed and admitted for a period of 2 weeks before his release when he was assessed as stable after correcting his dosage.
He was refused bail at the police station and was put into custody at the Silverwater MRRC prison. Legal aid represented him initially who made a bail application when bail was refused by the Local Court at Blacktown. His wife then attended our office and spoke to our team of specialist bail lawyers to represent her husband to get him bail, and released.
It is much more difficult to make a bail application the second time in the local court after one has already been unsuccessful, but this was something our specialist bail lawyers were determined to overcome and tactfully prepare the second bail application at the Penrith Local Court.
An extensive amount of work was done in the preparation phase. All clinical and medical reports from the Blacktown Hospital were obtained and, to our client’s favour, revealed that at the time of the choking, he was in an acute psychosis in the background of schizophrenia due to a change in his medication dosage only days before the incident.
Further medical notes exposed that our client is now fit and not a harm to himself or anyone else. More importantly, it confirmed that his new dosage is effective.
A letter from his GP was obtained confirming he will monitor our client’s progress and medications regularly as a condition of bail. This provided the court with comfort that our client, if released on bail, will be monitored by a professional to maintain his rehabilitation securing the safety of the community.
A further affidavit was prepared, with the assistance and guidance of our team of expert bail lawyers confirming his good character and likelihood to comply with any bail conditions.
A family friend was requested to appear who agreed that our client will reside with him at his residence during the court proceedings if released on bail, further convincing the court with the safety of the daughter.
Strong and compelling submissions were made by Mr. J Singh to convince the Magistrate to grant bail. Bail was granted on conditions, and our client was released, now in a much better position to prepare his case for the defence of mental illness, with better access to care and treatment.
It is extremely important to speak to an experienced specialist bail lawyer as early as possible to ensure that your initial bail application has the best chance at success. It is equally important to ensure that all preparation and requests for reports are done on time with a very well versed expert bail lawyer who is able to persuade the court to grant bail with reasonable conditions. Our team will advise you step by step at each stage of your bail application, and ensure that all preparation work is done without compromising on quality of work.
Our experienced team have successfully achieved bail over and over again from Local Court to Supreme Court with a proven track record of an un-matched success rate.