Advice needed on a criminal matter

angelicmary85

I don't think this has been mentioned yet but could your son be a runner? He might have 'needed' the money but has gotten in too deep?

JoJoB

If you are concerned about CRB checks then you must be aware that accepting a caution will be as detrimental as being convicted in terms of future checks. While it should fall off his file after a ceratin length of time, for some jobs it will always have to be disclosed (if he ever wants to work with children for example). So it may be worth fighting to keep his file completely clean.

Get a good solicitor to help you weigh up which way to approach this but my initial feeling is that it would be best to not accept the caution. If your son has not been in trouble before, if aspergers is an issue, and the fact he went to the police with the story will all help his case in the eyes of a judge and it certainly seems there are factors to take into account that do not make this a straightforward drugdealing conviction (if the judge accepts his story that he was coerced with the threat of violence). That's if it even gets as far as court.

snugglepet20

Definitely fight this on the grounds that the boy stated he was under duress and threatened with physical violence to get the drugs. These men were older and bigger than him so it is an entirely plausible scenario, remember in a court you have to be proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The police are trying to get you to accept a caution so that they do not have to prove guilt, it is easy to scare a 16 year old kid. Get a decent solictor not some yellow pages legal-aid guy.

Re CRB checks drugs convictions are looked upon very poorly by employers but offences commited under 18 are usually sealed when you become an adult and will not show up on a check so that may be some comfort if the worst does happen. This includes enhanced checks for working with children believe it or not.

springclean

apart from agreeing with the advice about a solicitor, i too am struggling with this story.

drug users know where to get their drugs from, so why would they waste the time in getting them by hassling random school kids (possibly a geeky one at that from the description, rather than a streetwise one).

sorry, but i think DS needs to be spoken to.

fluffymuffy

Thanks for all the replies.

It seems that he was deliberately taken to a place where there are lots of cameras. Could the motive be to blackmail him later?

shazrobo

agree with other posters, see a solicitor ASAP.
i would go voluntarily to the police station with ds, otherwise they will turn up at your house to arrest him, for all the street to see.
a caution before the age of 18 i believe is spent once the child becomes an adult. court appearances can be lengthy and time consuming, especially if there isnt enough evidence, and you have to keep going back. a court is no place for a young person, try and avoid it, but dont get him to accept a caution, if he really hasnt done it

anguk

There are a few things about this that confuse me.

Firstly how did these 2 men know that the lad would be able to get them drugs? As someone said earlier 2 druggies would know where to get drugs they wouldn't ask some random young lad off the street. Secondly it seems very convenient that this lad knew exactly who to call to get the drugs and it's also odd that a guy would turn up in a car and just hand over drugs to the lad?

I'm also confused about who the man was who later accosted the lad outside the college, the original incident involved 2 men at the bus station so where does this other man fit into all this? Or is this the man in the car and he's now turned up to demand the money that the lad owes for the drugs? I haven't got a clue how drug dealing works but I would have thought that a dealer wouldn't hand over drugs unless he was paid first, unless of course he'd already had dealings with the lad in question?

Have the police talked to the friend that the lad called, or the man in the car who brought the drugs?

I may be cynical but I think there's definately more to this than the lad is saying, he didn't go to the police, he only told this story after the college contacted the police. He may have been distraught when you got home because it happened exactly as he said, but he may also have been distraught because he knew the college had contacted the police and he knew he may be in trouble.

As for deliberately taking him to somewhere with cameras so they can blackmail him later, this just sounds too far-fetched to me. Why do that if they don't even know this lad?

I have 2 kids, 23 & 16 and I understand as a parent you do try to convince yourself that your child wouldn't lie or get involved in something like drugs and you'll also try to find excuses and reasons for why your child is innocent but the reality is children do lie and aren't always the innocent little things we think they are.

You really need to get advice from a solicitor first thing tomorrow.

angelicmary85

fluffymuffy wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies.

It seems that he was deliberately taken to a place where there are lots of cameras. Could the motive be to blackmail him later?

I'm not being rude but that seems a bit like clutching at straws :huh:

snugglepet20

Ok so her son may be lying and dabbling in drugs and getting out of his depth and this needs to be dealt with but by his parents not a criminal conviction for drug dealing. He is 16 that is too young to have your life ruined, some of you are very harsh or did you never do anything stupid when you were young?

mommame

Not got much to advise the boy and his parents but would tell you this story as condensed as possible.
16 yr old son punched a boy outside a club and his ( my sons) girlfriend pulled him away and they walked home to calm him down.
Unknown to them when they left, another older man who this boy had also been hassling in the club gave this boy a terrible beating breaking his jaw and various other injuries.

Police arrives next morning and on my advice" just tell them the truth that you only punched him the once and walked away home"my son told them bla bla yes I hit him etc.

It turned out the older man denied touching the lad even though 8/10 people came forward and said they saw him,as he was older they treated it as if they both did it even though son didn't know him, son had to be tried in an adult court.

The worst 18 mths of my life followed where we were told as he admitted it he would be going to prison,we even had his bag of clothes with us and they said which prison he would be going to.

Long story short the police officers spoke for my son in court and said he was a good lad and they thought this was a one off,the other man was a known thug apparently and only just out of jail.

Son got 18 mths probation a fine and community service,the other man went to prison for 2 years and guess what, the barrister and the police officers called us to one side afterwords and said "just for future reference you never ever ever admit your guilt to a crime even if you are bang to rights",

I was gobsmacked as I always told my kids tell the truth and take your medicine.
Good luck what ever you decide anyway.