Ben Holden has managed to secure an exceedingly lenient sentence for a client who was accused of making a Bomb Hoax in King Street in Hammersmith.

The client, who was a vulnerable person, had made the bomb hoax after failing to take his medication for paranoid schizophrenia. There was significant mitigation in Mr C’s case and Ben ensured that this mitigation was thoroughly reviewed and presented before the district judge at Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court. After hearing Ben’s representations on behalf of Mr C, and after considering the opinion of the Probation Service and mental health team, the district judge was persuaded to pass a conditional discharge.

A conditional discharge is almost unheard of following a conviction for an offence of this nature. The Court of Appeal has made the observation in the leading case of R v Philipson [2008] that;

‘…notwithstanding the condition that the offender suffered from, it would be rare, if ever, that a bomb hoax offence would result in a non-custodial sentence regardless of  personal mitigation.’

Here's how Get West London reported the case: News Link