James Scobie KC led Shahida Begum of the Garden Court Chambers Crime Team.
Counsel were instructed by Fergus Harrington of ABV Solicitors.
It was alleged that the defendant, AM, conspired with another individual to slash a police officer, who was visiting the prison for a police interview. The other individual had been charged and convicted of the substantive offence.
The police officer had been the officer in the case in AM’s previous conviction and was investigating AM for new matters. The Crown relied on association and a text message found over a year after the incident from AM, and alleged that this had been a confession. AM accepted sending the message, but it was the defence case that it was braggadocio so he would be feared and respected, as he was in debt to a dealer after a police raid.
