Anna Rowe

This tale of injustice is caused by a judge's prejudice against a defendant & her child. Thanks to @F_E_Smith (anonymous like @barristersecret) for drawing attention. I'm not going to name the judge because I'm against naming & shaming individuals - the problem is system

Credit to https://3rblaw.com/barrister/michael-haggar/ … for appealing this case which rested on the poor behaviour of the judge leading to an unfair trial. Case was against the partner of a prisoner for smuggling items into prison.She pleaded guilty to smuggling a sim card but denied bringing in drugs

She has two children aged 3 & 14 for whom she was a full time carer at the time of her trial & had been granted bail. In April she was found guilty of all charges & imprisoned fr 18 months. In Sep her conviction was set aside by the CoA due to the unfairness of the original trial

I don't know if the judge was just having a bad few days, but my concern is that judges can behave in such a manner with the only redress being that the conviction was quashed after a woman had spent 5 months in prison, during which two children had to cope without their mother.

The first problem arose when the judge in the trial appeared to encourage the defendant to plead guilty. "At the close of the Crown's case he told the appellant's counsel in open court to give the appellant "robust advice" due to the strength of the evidence

& that it would be "too late to say anything realistic on her behalf once the jury returned". Defendant maintained her innocence, despite a Goodyear direction that she faced up to 30 mths in prison. The judge then decided that because of this, defendant was at risk of absconding

The prosecution made no application for denial of bail & the defendant had been on bail for many months. She had made no arrangements for the care of her 3 & 14 year old children. Despite this & the unlikelihood of a mother absconding, the judge remanded her with immediate effect