Affaf Noor Saidi 1. Consider arguments for and against granting bail to each of the following defendants. * Lucy, aged 22, has been charged with dealing heroin. She was caught with a large amount of the drug in the back of her car. She lives with her parents and has worked as an office assistant for the same employer since leaving school at the age of 16. Bail is when a person is granted temporary freedom provided the person promises to appear at court on a fixed date and pay a certain sum, a surety if the promise is broken.
The granting of bail may be conditional upon the accused appearance at the police station at given times before the trial. Section 38 of the Police And Criminal Evidence Act 1984 provides that when a person arrested otherwise than under a warrant endorsed for police bail is charged with an offence, the custody officer must order his release from police detention either on bail or without unless the suspect’s name and address cannot be ascertained or there are reasonable grounds for doubting the truth of the name and address.
Lucy was charged with dealing heroin, a large amount of the drug was found in the back of her car. Lucy also lives with her parents and has been working as an office assistant for the same employer since she was 16. One of the reasons why Lucy should be granted bail is that she resides at a specific address with her parents. This shows that Lucy has a permanent place to stay, and by granting her bail, the police can identify her address should they need to find. She also worked at the same place with the same employer since she was out of school at the age of 16.
This proves that Lucy has a stable monetary income to care for her parents. Therefore Lucy would not leave her parents without an income by committing other offenses whilst on bail or even jeopardising her job. On the other hand, dealing with heroin is a presumption against bail. As heroin is a Class A type drug. Under Section 19 of Criminal Justice Act 2003, where an adult offender is either charged with possession or possession with intent to supply a Class A drug, there is a restriction on to the right for bail.
Other than that Lucy should not be granted bail because she has been working in the same place for the past six year, she might have a big circle of contacts around her area of residence or work location, there is doubt in whether her colleagues could be supplying her with the drugs or are her clients. Another thing is that, Lucy has a stable income and she lives with her parents, she could decide to move houses or even try to start reselling the heroin as she has the money to purchase the drugs. * Barry, aged 36, has a number of previous convictions for shoplifting over the last five years.
He is currently charged with stealing a jacket worth ? 60 from a shop in the High Street. Barry lives in a squat with his girlfriend. He is currently unemployed. On granting bail, the court will consider whether the defendant deserves to be granted bail. The factors of granting bail is/are, whether the nature and seriousness of the offense is entitled to a bail, whether the defendant’s previous records were granted bail, or/and whether the strength of the evidence against the defendant is enough to be considered for bail.
Other than that, the court also set conditions to a grant of bail, while on bail, the defendant must reside at a particular known address by the police. Barry should not be given bail because the seriousness of the offense is not big. Barry stole a jacket worth 60 pounds, therefore the court should not grant him bail as he would not flee out of the country over a 60 pounds jacket or even try to jeopardise himself by not turning up to the hearings. Other than that, he has had a number of previous convictions for shoplifting over the last five years, this shows that never fails to turn up at every stage of hearing.
Moreover, Barry lives with his girlfriend, this proves that he has no place to stay or someone to look after him as he has no stable income to earn a living on his own, therefore he would not risk his life by not turning up for hearing dates. On the other hand, if Barry was to be released on bail, there is a high chance that he might commit similar offences whilst on bail, as he had a number of shoplifting in the past. Furthermore, he is living in a squat with his girlfriend, thus running away is easier for him.
This is because the police does not know his exact or permanent address, therefore finding him would be hard for the police if he decides to run away. * Shirley, aged 31, is an accountant. She lives with her husband and four children in a detached house. She is accused of defrauding one of her clients out of several thousand pounds. One of the factors that are considered by the court before granting bail to defendants is the defendant’s ties with the community. Shirley is a mother of four and lives with her family in a detached house.
She should be given bail because she is well settled down with her family and is occupied with her children. Therefore, she would not flee the country and leave her family behind. Other than that, she is an accountant, she should be given bail because she has the obligation to attend the hearings of the court so that her reputation among her clients does not go down. Moreover, she would not try to commit any other similar offenses as she might lose her clients if she does.
On the other hand, fraud is a presumption against bail. As it affects the public, Shirley should not be given bail. Shirley and her family lives in a detached house, this proves that she has a high financial status. This means that, Shirley and her family can run away from her fraud accusations by fleeing the state or country. Other than that, as she is in a high financial state, she could interfere with the witnesses and bribe her way out her fraudulent accusations. 2.
Assuming that the Magistrates did feel that bail could be granted to Lucy, Barry and Shirley, suggest suitable bail conditions for each of them If Lucy were to be granted bail, I think the suitable bail conditions that must be given to Lucy is that the Magistrates must impose a curfew on her so that she can prove where she is at certain times. Other than that, she must be told to maintain her job so that she would not have any other new contact with people outside of her working place.
The Magistrate must also tell her to surrender her passport to make sure that she will not flee the country. On top of that, she must turn up at designated times at the police station to report her presence, so that the police is aware of her following her bail orders. Barry on the other hand, must have his girlfriend stand as a surety, and make sure that he will not commit further shoplifting or similar offences whilst on bail. He must also surrender his passport to make sure he does not flee the country.
As for Shirley, the Magistrates must order her to surrender all of her documents concerning this particular client to her colleagues and not to intervene with their affairs. Likewise, she must also cut off any possible contact with this client so that she does not temper around with evidence or investigation. Besides that she must surrender her passport to make sure she does not flee the country, and must also have her husband stand as surety that she will not commit further similar offences whilst on bail. In addition she must continue to work at her firm and not change her working pattern.
