Riel Karmy-Jones KC, leading Alex Benn, appeared on behalf of a vulnerable man charged with breaching a complex restraining order.
There was a significant background to the case, including allegations of hidden wrongdoing against the complainant. Senior figures in the Church of England had become involved. The defendant was a writer and religious scholar, who had suffered acute mental health problems since the original restraining order had been imposed some years before.
The case raised the issues of fitness to plead and stand trial, as well as jurisdiction and extradition. Riel and Alex applied to stop the trial as an abuse of process, and took the rare step of applying to the Attorney General to stop the proceedings as a nolle prosequi, which escalated the matter within the Crown Prosecution Service. The Attorney General’s Office forwarded the application for a nolle prosequi to the CPS and asked for comment, and, as a result, the CPS offered no evidence.
Riel and Alex were instructed by Michael Phillips of Andrew Storch Solicitors.