News

Derek Johashen represented AB at Amersham Crown Court. AB had been arrested with his co-defendant for the attempted murder of a police officer. He and his co-defendant were eventually charged with offences of GBH, Blackmail, Robbery, Aggravated Vehicle taking and dangerous driving. The circumstances have been reported in the national news. In short AB,  his co-defendant DW and their wives had been out on New Years Eve. They approached a taxi driver and asked whether he would take them home. He refused because he had been pre-booked. The men then assaulted the taxi driver and AB threatened to kill him unless he gave them his taxi (blackmail).  DW drove the car away with AB and their wives as passengers. The police eventually discovered the car in Greenleys, Milton Keynes and gave chase, it came to a halt . By this time both wives had already left the car and there were different back seat passengers. PC Leathersich approached the car to arrest the driver at which point he was run over and the car was reversed over him. The officer had serious injuries including a broken hip and pelvis and broken ribs.  This was a technically demanding case with a national press interest which meant that it needed sensitive and expert handling. After considerable work and negotiation, Derek Johashen was able to agree that AB should only plead to the charge of Blackmail and Aggravated vehicle taking. As a result after lengthy mitigation AB received only 21 months imprisonment. DW on the other hand, not represented by anyone from the First Law partnership was forced to plead guilty to GBH and he received a sentence of 7 years and 3 months imprisonment.”

A man has been cleared after being accused by a bailiff of assaulting him. Our client woke up to find that his wife had allowed a bailiff to enter the house. This man had been recognised by our client as a bailiff and was asked to leave. In attempting to have the bailiff leave the house, a confrontational situation arose and the bailiff claimed he was assaulted. Our client denied the allegations and at court one of our most respected advocates, Clair McCarthy, put forward the facts. After the case was heard, the court accepted that the bailiff had not made his true identity known and that he had not produced the correct paperwork. This was despite the bailiff of 15 years experience stating that he had correctly identified himself using his photograph ID badge and had produced the appropriate documentation.

Our Bedford based Paralegal Rosanna DeRosa has passed the final stages of the Police Station Accredittation scheme. After rigorous testing in both theoretical and practical environments, results came back from one of only three centres of excellence in the UK that offer the training needed to fully qualify to represent individuals at the police station. The news was that Rosanna had passed and was now fully accredited and will now develop her role with Head of Police Station Pete Johashen. Rosanna will take the experience she has learnt from her Paralegal work and put this essential knowledge of post interview result into her work at the station. A big congratulations from all of the team here at The First Law Partnership.

Colin Hobbs successfully defends taxi driver after a disciplinary hearing.

A taxi driver is keeping his hackney carriage licence after one of our top representatives took on the case. The driver, who had accrued a previous number of points on his taxi licence, found that he was faced with the addition of further points after allegations were raised. This meant that the driver would need his case heard at a disciplinary hearing before the local authority. After mitigation from Mr Hobbs, the panel deemed the driver a fit and proper person to hold a taxi licence, the points for what was considered the most serious transgression were reduced, he was given a caution as a sanction for another offence, and more importantly he was told his licence was not to be revoked or suspended and was able to keep working.