Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Offence

The offence of Controlling or Coercive Behaviour is contained within Section 76 of The Serious Crime Act 2015. This is a serious criminal offence which falls under the umbrella term of ‘long-term domestic abuse’, if a person is convicted of this offence the Court can impose a prison sentence of up to 5 years.

At Kang & Co Solicitors, we have a specialist team of solicitors and barristers that represent individuals that are under investigation or have recently been charged with the offence of Controlling or Coercive Behaviour. Our team are on hand to defend your reputation and liberty.

Our lawyers have represented clients charged with a range of complex and high-profile domestic violence prosecutions. These include domestic assault and controlling / coercive behaviour. We have a wealth of experience advising in investigations and prosecutions. If you require high quality legal advice and representation, so that you have the best possible chance of attaining a successful outcome, please call us on 03452229955 or complete our Contact Form.

Paying Privately for Representation for Controlling or Coercive Behaviour

We have been covering only private client criminal cases for many years and the benefits to our clients are clear. Our clients receive a much higher level of legal expertise and attention, because they are funding their cases privately. This enables us to dedicate more time in preparing the case, compared with firms that may also offer legal aid. Legal aid lawyers (Duty Solicitors) are often over-worked and are covering more cases than they should, as the nature of their work is reactive, and this can result in your case not receiving the time and attention it deserves.

Our private client solicitors are specialists in their field. They have significant experience and will have dealt with other cases like yours in the past and will know the best strategies to achieve a not guilty verdict.

Domestic Violence Prosecutions

Many criminal prosecutions result from incidents of violence and abuse in the home with offences ranging from common assault and criminal damage right up to, sadly, murder itself.

The Crown Prosecution Service (“CPS”), which prosecutes most criminal offences in England and Wales) has published guidelines which provide that domestic violence and/ or abuse describes controlling and coercive behaviour used by one person over another they have (or have had) an intimate or family relationship with. It is recognised that such behaviour may take different forms including being psychological, physical, sexual, financial and/ or emotional.

Since December 2015, a new offence of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship has applied under Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act (“SCA”) 2015. In April 2018, a 22-year-old woman was convicted of this offence along with offences of wounding her boyfriend with intent and causing him grievous bodily harm with intent. She was sentenced to seven and a half years’ imprisonment.

Defences

Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 provides for a defence to an allegation where, by engaging in the behaviour:

(a) the accused believed they were acting in the complainant’s best interests; and

(b) the accused’s behaviour was in all the circumstances reasonable.

This will be judged by the Court on the individual circumstances of the case but cannot apply where the accused’s behaviour caused the complainant to fear that violence would be used against them.

Sentencing

The offence can be tried in the Magistrates’ Court or by a jury in the Crown Court. The maximum sentence is one of five years’ imprisonment and/ or a fine in the Crown Court although the relevant sentencing guidelines for offenders aged 18 and over suggests a range of sentences between a community order up to four years’ imprisonment.

In the case of Vidgen [2018] EWCA Crim 2385, a man had been sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment for coercive behaviour towards his wife and a further 9 months’ imprisonment each for separate and discreet offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and sending a malicious communication (31 months’ imprisonment in total). The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence finding there had been nothing wrong in the decision to impose the sentences consecutively. In the recent case of R v Katira (Tarang) [2020] EWCA Crim 89, a husband was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment for a section 76 SCA 2015 offence involving five incidents spanning a nine-month period. His behaviour had involved making threats, grabbing, slapping, hitting and throwing objects at his wife. His appeal succeeded in so far as his sentence was reduced to 15 months’ imprisonment after the Court of Appeal had found (amongst other things) that five occasions of behaviour did not make the case one of higher culpability as the sentencing judge had initially concluded.

Funding Your Case

If you are facing a criminal investigation or prosecution, you should seek out the very best lawyers to defend your case, so that you have the best chance of a successful outcome. Our solicitors and barristers are highly experienced and recognised nationally for successfully defending a significant number of high-profile criminal prosecutions throughout England and Wales.

As a specialist private funded criminal defence law firm, we represent clients that are in a financial position to fund their cases privately, as a result our clients do not qualify for Public Funding (Legal Aid) and for that reason we do not undertake any work on Legal Aid.

Our Private Legal Defence Lawyers accept new cases on a Fixed Fee basis, ensuring that our clients know exactly how much their case will cost from the outset.

Private legal representation is not only reserved for the wealthy, many of our clients are ordinary people that require a robust defence team to provide them with the best chance of protecting their reputation and career. If you require more information on the cost of defending your case, speak to one of our solicitors for a free no obligation fee estimate.