Victim of stalking overturns her stalker’s acquittal after CPS tells her the wrong trial date.

AM was stalked by her ex-boyfriend, LC, over a few years. She reported it to the police who eventually investigated and charged LC. A trial date was set at Yeovil Magistrates Court.

However the Crown Prosecution Service gave AM the wrong date for the trial. On the day of the trial, when AM did not attend, the CPS applied to adjourn LC’s case to enable AM to be there. The Magistrates refused the application with the result that the CPS offered no evidence, and LC was formally acquitted. He was no longer on bail, and AM had no redress or protection.

AM was told that LC had been acquitted and nothing could be done about it. She approached the Centre for Women’s Justice, who sought an advice from Harriet Johnson at Doughty Street Chambers, and referred AM to Alice Hardy and Miranda Critchley at Bindmans.  

With only a week left to go before the judicial review deadline, Bindmans issued a challenge in the High Court to the Magistrates’ refusal to adjourn the case, on the grounds that it was irrational and it breached AM’s rights under Articles 3, 8 and 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Mr Justice Lavender initially refused permission on the papers so Bindmans applied for an oral renewal hearing, at which Jude Bunting KC, also of Doughty Street Chambers, persuaded Mr Justice Sheldon to grant permission on both grounds.

At a hearing on 8 May 2025, Jude Bunting successfully argued that given the seriousness of the stalking, the wider societal impact of violence against women and girls, the fact that this was the first listing for trial, the fact that AM lived nearby and was willing to give evidence, and having regard to the relevant authorities, the decision of the Magistrates’ Court was irrational. In the circumstances, Mrs Justice Ellenbogen decided it was unnecessary to consider the second ground in relation to AM’s Convention rights.

The judge quashed the Magistrates’ decision to refuse the adjournment application, and its subsequent acquittal of LC. She ordered the Magistrates’ Court to list LC’s trial at the earliest opportunity.

Alice Hardy, Miranda Critchley, and Salamatu Kamara from Bindmans instructed Jude Bunting KC and Harriet Johnson at Doughty Street Chambers. The case is reported on Westlaw as R (AM) v Yeovil Magistrates’ Court [2025] 5 WLUK 141.