We commenced acting for our client after his application for bail had been refused whilst represented by another firm. He was facing serious drug and other related charges. We reviewed the transcript of the proceedings in the Magistrates Court to identify why the original application did not succeed. Our client was young, with a minor criminal record however, the prosecution had persuaded the Magistrate that the case against him was strong and the alleged offending too serious to justify a grant of bail. He had been on remand in custody for about 6 weeks.
We reviewed the evidence in support of the charges and formed the view that there was merit in persuing another application for bail. We filed and application for bail to be considered afresh in the Supreme Court, supported by written submissions identifying the weaknesses in the prosecution case against our client. The State DPP considered our submissions and resiled from its opposition to the grant of bail, a position which strengthened our application before the Supreme Court, which was ultimately satisfied that our client should be released on bail.
Postscript Two weeks after being in the community on bail, our client was arrested for failing to report to the nominated police station. We were able to persuade the Magistrate that the breach was as a result of forgetfulness and that bail should be re-instated.
