IN THE CROWN COURT AT ROEHAMPTON CASE NO: 1998/AC/2020

-AND-

DAVID JONES

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PLEA IN MITIGATION
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You are instructed to represent David Jones who is 22 years old today and due to be
sentenced.

He is charged with a single count on the indictment of possession of a bladed /

pointed article in a public place, namely a knife, contrary to section 139(1) of the
Criminal Justice Act 1988. He served a signed defence statement saying that he has
not carried any knife and any item in his hand was a lighter.

On the day of the trial Mr Jones pleaded guilty on the basis that the item he carried
was a pair of scissors, not a knife. The prosecution did not accept the basis. The
Judge ruled that the basis made no material difference to sentence, that scissors
were still a bladed article for the purposes of the guidelines, and he would sentence
on this basis. The judge adjourned for the PSR but made it clear that Mr Jones
should have no expectations of avoiding immediate custody.

The family of the victim are sitting in court they have launched a petition for tougher
sentences for knife crime. The petition has been in the national press. They are very
angry that the Judge’s sentencing on the basis of the item being scissors when the
victim clearly said he was threatened with a knife.

Prosecution case

The prosecution case is that Dave Jones, at 1:30 AM, on the High Street, was seen
to be carrying a knife by Mr Polly.

The incident occurred as part of a fight between two groups on the High Street. One
group including Mr Polly was leaving a city nightclub. Mr Jones approached them. Mr
Polly was hit by one of the group but was uninjured. Mr Jones’ friends pursued the
group leaving the nightclub. Mr Jones followed. There was a further scuffle. Mr
Jones was involved.

Mr Jones had moved away from the scuffle with one of his friends. There was a
period of about 5 minutes where the scuffle continued between the various parties in
the centre of the High Street. Mr Jones was standing with his friend, away from the
scuffle, at the side of the High Street. Mr Polly heard Mr Jones say, “pass me the
blade”. Mr Polly then says he saw Mr Jones move towards the fight and hold a knife
out in front of his body. Mr Polly described his fear at being threatened in this way.
Mr Polly said he told Mr Jones to get away from him. Mr Polly then left the scene

The CCTV covered the incident. Although it is not completely clear from the blurry
CCTV image what the item was that Mr Jones was holding, it was shaped like a
knife, it had a point and it had a silver reflection. Mr Jones is seen to be handed this
by a friend while standing to the side of the ongoing scuffle. Mr Jones holds this item
behind his back and then he brings it out in front of his body. He holds the item near
to the front of his body, by his waist, whilst there are a number of people nearby to
him. He then swiftly turns around, moves away from the crowd and moves behind a
parked car near some refuse bins.

The CCTV operator called the police. Police arrived at the scene. Mr Jones
approached them and told them he had been punched. Mr Jones was searched as a
result of the CCTV operator telling the police he had seen Mr Jones with a knife.
Nothing was found on Mr Jones.
PSR (Pre-Sentence Report)

The PSR says that Mr Jones is at medium risk of reoffending and medium risk of
harm. The report says that although Mr Jones could be given unpaid work as part of
a suspended sentence order, the officer was concerned about Mr Jones’ attitude to
his offending and his reluctance to acknowledge the harm he could have caused.
The report author concluded he is an angry man, but the author recognised the
challenging circumstances of his upbringing. The first interview with probation had to
be halted because the report author felt intimidated as the atmosphere became
heated. The report author observed that what had made Mr Jones angry was the
thought of leaving his mother.

Instructions

Mr Jones lives with his mother and older sister. His older sisters in full time work. His
father died when he was a baby, so he did not know him. His mum is registered
disabled and Mr Jones takes her to regular medical appointments. She has been in
the UK all of Mr Jones’ life but does not speak English, so he translates for her.

Mr Jones left school aged 16 with three GCSE S. He does not work, though he is
planning to find a job as a labourer with his uncle.

He says:

I put in my plea at a late stage because I am frightened about going to prison. I don't
want to leave my mum; I don't think my uncle would look after her as well as I can. I
maintain the item was only scissors, not a knife, so I really don't see what the fuss is
about. I never intended to use them. They are only scissors so I couldn't have done
much harm even if I had wanted to. I did not say “pass me the blade”.

Mr Jones is concerned about how he comes across in the PSR. He says that the
report writer was biased and didn't give me a chance.

Mr Jones also tells you that he is due in Westminster Magistrates Court in 2 weeks
for a further public order offence, for threatening behaviour with intent to cause
harassment, alarm or distress. The date of this new allegation is subsequent to this
incident. He tells you that he is innocent, the police have wrongly identified him, but
he is going to plead guilty. When you ask why he wants to plead guilty to something
he didn't do, he shrugs and says he just wants to plead to draw a line under all his
court matters. This matter does not appear on the PNC. The prosecutor does not
mention this in opening.

PNC

Mr Jones has one assault offence from 2017. He tells you he got involved in a fight
in a park, he had gone out with the same friends that were involved in this offence.
He received a community order and paid £500 compensation. He has four public
order offences from when he was aged 16 and 17. For the first set he received a
referral order and for the second set he received a YRO.

Character References

Your instructing solicitor has emailed you some character references from family
members, including his mother to explain her disabilities and the caring role that her
son performs. His mother’s reference has been handwritten in fluent English, but
there are no details of how the statement was taken.