Section 38 Criminal Justice and Licencing Client Acquitted

Kinloch Lawyers Client Acquitted at JP Court Trial

Our Mr Banks from Kinloch Lawyers represented a client at the Justice of the Peace Court in Glasgow.

Client is charged with a contravention of section38(1) of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010

What is a Section 38? 

A section 38 offence, essentially is a breach of the peace, and one of the most common offences that people are charged with by Police Scotland. This is a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, that is likely to cause a reasonable person fear or alarm. It is often referred to as a “statutory breach of the peace”, however both crimes are distinct from each other and have some differences. A s38(1) charge can range from singing a song at a football match, to uttering threats to another person. It is one of the most common charges we see in Scottish courts.

The Trial Diet

When the case called, the Crown made a motion to adjourn the Trial. This was due to the fact that two essential witnesses were not present in Court. The Crown could not provide an explanation for their non-attendance.

Opposed

The Crown motion was opposed by our Mr Jenkins, despite the fact that this was the first time the matter had called for Trial. He referred the Justice to the case of PF (Glasgow) v Cooper in which the Appeal Court stated that the Crown should be prepared for the first Trial Diet and that this was not a “dress rehearsal”.

Date of the Alleged Offence

Our Mr Jenkins also pointed out that this case related to an allegation from September 2021. If the Crown motion was granted, this would likely mean that the case would be over two years old by the time it next called. Our Mr Jenkins argued that was unfair to the accused, who deserved to have the case dealt with in a timely fashion.

The Decision of the Court

What was Agreed

After hearing from both parties, the Justice refused the Crown motion. TheCrown made no further motion and the case was, thereafter, deserted simpliciter. This means that the matter is now at an end and cannot be brought back to Court unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Kinloch Lawyers Client Delighted  

The client was extremely grateful to our Mr Jenkins and to the team at David Kinloch and Co for all their hard work. The client was delighted that the matter was now at an end and that he was acquitted of the charge.