Unan Choudhury and Sherene Wallis represented a seventeen-year-old youth of good character, who was arrested by police in April 2013 in connection with the burglary of Sainsbury’s in Camden Town during the summer riots of 2011.

From the outset, when being interviewed by police and advised by LNL, he gave full details of an alibi, including details of alibi witnesses, and protested his innocence throughout. However the CPS was not deterred from prosecuting the case, even when we adduced further evidence in connection with the misidentification of our client.

Unan and Sherene determinedly pursued full disclosure of all information and evidence in the case, and were eventually served with a case file relating to another suspect whom the police were originally convinced was the man that they were looking for. However, SERCO effectively provided an alibi for this second individual, stating that he was subject to an electronic tag and was at his registered address at the relevant time. This was despite the fact that the second individual was an uncanny likeness, if not the spitting image of the man on the CCTV in Sainsbury’s!

Of course that statement by SERCO was accepted by the authorities as accurate and truthful, and the CPS continued to pursue its case against our client.

Unan and Sherene also continued to make representations to the CPS, served both character evidence and further alibi statements on the CPS who finally saw the light and discontinued the case two days before trial.

This young man had been on bail throughout, thankfully, but if convicted would have faced a custodial sentence because that is sentencing policy in relation to these cases.

Our client and his family were delighted.

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