Millennium Chambers is pleased to report a successful sentencing outcome by Tess McCarthy, who represented her client at the Central Criminal Court in proceedings concerning an offence of grievous bodily harm contrary to section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
The defendant appeared for sentence having admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with a kitchen knife.
In mitigation, Tess McCarthy submitted the defendant was particularly vulnerable at the time of the offence and had, to some extent, been taken advantage of in the period leading up to it. She further argued that community-based support offered the most effective means of addressing those vulnerabilities, and of reducing the risk of future offending.
The court accepted the mitigation advanced and imposed a suspended sentence, enabling the defendant to avoid further time in custody and begin rebuilding their life within the community.
