Malicious prosecution met by equal measure

Following a disagreement, the director of a disability support and accommodation service not only fired our client, who was a senior manager, but filed complaints with police alleging that our client had stolen a company vehicle and used the company credit card to pay for personal expenses. We reviewed the evidence, took instructions and advised our client to plead not guilty to the charges and defend the matter at trial. In preparation for trial, we obtained information demonstrating our client had paid a deposit towards the company vehicle and we subpoenaed documents which could contradict substantial portions of the director’s statement to police. Several days before the trial was to commence, it dawned on the prosecution that its case was doomed to fail and notified us all charges would be discontinued. However, in Court, the prosecution indicated it wanted to discontinue the charges and conduct further investigations with a view to potentially re-laying charges. We successfully opposed this application and the prosecution was forced to proceed, offering no evidence on the charges. Our client was acquitted of all charges, precluding the police from bringing new charges in the future, and awarded substantial costs to be paid by the prosecution.