Pre-charge case successes

What is Pre-Charge-Engagement? 

Pre-charge engagement provides defence lawyers an opportunity to liaise with the Police while the investigation into the suspect is ongoing and influence the investigation to the suspect’s advantage.

When investigating an allegation, the Police will tend to focus on looking to obtain evidence to support the allegation and would generally not investigate material that would assist the suspect.

The Attorney Generals Guidelines on Disclosure provides:

7. Investigators should ensure that all reasonable lines of inquiry are investigated whether they point towards or away from the suspect. What is ‘reasonable’ will depend on the context of the case. A fair investigation does not mean an endless investigation. Investigators and disclosure officers must give thought to defining and articulating the limits of the scope of their investigations.

What are Pre-Charge-Representations?

Pre-charge representations provide an opportunity for defence lawyers to make representations to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to suggest an outcome that is beneficial to the client. This is usually that a case should either not be prosecuted or should be dealt with by an out of Court disposal. 

How is a charging decision made? 

Is there enough evidence against the defendant?

When deciding whether there is enough evidence to charge, Crown Prosecutors must be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against the suspect, based on an objective assessment of the evidence, including the impact of any defence and any other information that the suspect has put forward or on which they might rely. They should consider whether the evidence is admissible, credible, and reliable. They must also consider whether there is any other material or information that might affect the sufficiency of evidence.

A realistic prospect of conviction means “an objective, impartial and reasonable jury, bench of magistrates or a judge hearing a case alone, properly directed and acting in accordance with the law, is more likely than not to convict the defendant of the charge alleged.”

Is it in the public interest for the CPS to bring the case to court? 

A prosecution will usually take place unless the prosecutor, or where appropriate the police decision maker, is satisfied that there are public interest factors tending against prosecution which outweigh those in favour. This includes considering whether the public interest can be properly served by offering the offender the opportunity to have the matter dealt with by way of an out of court disposal rather than a prosecution taking place unless the prosecutor is sure that the public interest factors tending against prosecution outweigh those tending in favour.

What can Olliers do to try and prevent me being prosecuted?

The Investigations Team at Olliers is known for its proactive approach in criminal investigations. We place great emphasis on bringing cases to an early conclusion, without a client having to face the stress, trauma and cost of court proceedings.

Throughout an investigation we maintain contact with investigating officers, establishing, as far as possible, the full extent of the case against our client. We simultaneously undertake defence enquiries that support our client’s case.

We will always look to provide the police or other investigators with sufficient material so as to prevent our client being charged.

This may involve drawing their attention to material that supports the defence case, including the following:

• Texts, emails and other electronic communication 
• Social media activity 
• Enquiries into CCTV 
• Internet and other research 
• Medical evidence 
• Preparation of timelines and chronologies supportive of the defence Tracking down and speaking to witnesses who will support the defence case and subsequently invite the police to speak to these individuals. 

On occasions we may draw to the attention of investigators information that sheds light on why a complaint has been made.

Effective pre-charge engagement seeks to ensure that weak cases are not taken to court. For anyone facing any kind of criminal investigation, it is crucial that their legal team is actively committed to a strategy involving early, proactive pre-charge engagement with investigators.  

Toby Wilbraham – Head of Olliers’ Pre-Charge Academy

Toby has embraced pre-charge engagement using the Framework created under the Attorney General Disclosure Guidelines 2020 and refined under the 2024 Guidelines. Pre-charge work involves liaising with the Police and CPS at the investigation stage of an allegation. This makes the process more balanced and enables us to make representations either that the allegations should not be prosecuted or to suggest an out of court disposal may be more appropriate than a prosecution. Due to his experience in this developing area, he has created an accreditation scheme for Olliers which he uses to teach colleagues how to approach such work.

Toby is a recommended lawyer in the Legal 500 2025 which comments: 

‘Toby Wilbraham has a unique ability to see through all the distractions and get straight to the heart of any case. Unbelievable success rate in pre-charge representations. He simply sets out how he would destroy the prosecution case before it has even been contemplated and they take his word for it and call it a day there and then.”

Pre-charge Case Study 1 

TL instructed Olliers after his former girlfriend contacted the Police to allege a number of assaults against him during their relatively brief relationship. One allegation of assault was that he hit her during sex causing a broken jaw.TL worked at a high-profile job and was concerned that if he was prosecuted he would lose it. 

Toby Wilbraham, working with Aimee Darbyshire-Ellison undertook pre-charge work with TL. Detailed instructions were taken and a large quantity of material was collated that could be used for representations. 

Pre-charge engagement was undertaken with the Police. Material was provided to the Police that showed that TL was a credible witness whereas the complainant appeared not to be. Material was provided to the Police that suggested that the allegations were not true and at the time the relationship was happy and the complainant raised no issues. 

Material was also provided to the Police that suggested that the complainant had mental health issues that were relevant to the allegations and this further undermined her credibility. 

As a consequence, the Police decided, at a relatively early stage, to take no further action against TL who was very relieved about this. 

Pre-charge Case Study 2 

Toby Wilbraham represented AB following his arrest for a series of allegations made against him by his wife including rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault. 

AB had been arrested and interviewed by the duty solicitor. In interview he denied the allegations and suggested that they were malicious as the couple had split up and his wife had instigated family proceedings against him. 

His original solicitor had advised him to wait and do nothing but AB looked online and saw that Olliers specialised in pre-charge work. He instructed Mr Wilbraham to deal with the case. 

Mr Wilbraham initially obtained the Police Station file from the previous solicitors to see the detail of the allegations. He then took instructions from the client. He then compiled and organised a lot of information and material provided by the client including text messages, photos, videos and voice recordings. 

Relevant material was then provided to the Police under pre-charge engagement protocols. This included messages that contradicted what the complainant had alleged, photos of the complainant that undermined some of the allegations and financial information that questioned her suggestion that he was financially controlling her. 

As a consequence, the Police ultimately dropped the case against him avoiding long drawn out and costly court proceedings. 

Pre-charge case study 3 

Toby Wilbraham represented a youth who was under investigation for an alleged rape. B was 15 years old and was alleged to have been involved in a sexual relationship with an older girl at the school he attended. After they split, she told the school they attended that she had been raped on one occasion. The school investigated this allegation and took it no further. She then made a complaint to the Police. 

Mr Wilbraham represented B at the Police station. A pre-prepared statement was put forward denying the alleged incident. The statement suggested that the allegation was malicious as the complainant was unhappy that the relationship had ended and believed (wrongly) that B had been unfaithful to her. It was clear that the complainant had issues at home and had a problematic relationship with her mother. 

Following the interview Mr Wilbraham liaised with Police as part of the pre-charge-engagement protocol. Evidence was provided to the Police, alongside character references to show that B was a credible witness. Mr Wilbraham requested that the Police make reasonable lines of enquiry to assist B’s case, including obtaining the investigation file from school, mental health records of the complainant and obtain digital communication around the time of the allegation showing that she had made no complainant at the time, only after they had split. 

Following the representations the Police made no further action against B, which was a relief to him and his parents. 

Contact our criminal pre-charge investigations solicitors 

If you would like to discuss how we can proactively assist you in relation to your case at a pre-charge stage, contact our new enquiry team by telephone on 0161 834 1515, by email to info@olliers.com or complete the enquiry form below and we will contact you.