Jury unanimously acquit company Director of Malicious Communications offence.

Mr WS was accused of an offence of Malicious Communications contrary to section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988. The allegations centred around text messages sent from him to his ex-partner that were said to be grossly offensive in nature. The text messages contained a lot of profanities and some racist language.

Mr WS was a company director with significant business interests in the Middle East and the United States, a conviction would have been highly damaging for his reputation and his chances of effective business travel.

WS engaged specialist Criminal Defence Barrister Quentin Hunt to look after his interests on a direct public access basis.

Upon instruction Quentin met WS on a number of occasions to take instructions on the circumstances of the alleged offence. Quentin was able to discover that WS’s previous relationship with his ex-partner was extremely volatile. WS was able to produce reams of messages from his ex-partner to him that were as offensive as the ones that he sent to her.

Quentin looked after WS during the pre-trial phases and a not guilty plea was entered. A formidable defence bundle was put together and served upon the Court and Prosecution. This bundle, that was carefully curated by Quentin, demonstrated that the kind of communications that were sent from Mr WS were typical of the communications between the two and that such language was ‘normalised’ within their relationship. As such, Quentin was to submit to the Court that the communications were not sent with an intention to cause offence, nor that such messages would actually have caused offence to the recipient.

The matter came for trial before a jury at the Chelmsford Crown Court where Quentin was able to effectively cross examine the complainant about her communications and the inconsistency in her accounts. Quentin submitted to the jury that it was clear that Mr WS was not guilty. The jury agreed with Quentin and unanimously acquitted Mr WS.  

Quentin Hunt is a criminal defence Barrister who specialises in defending individuals in Communications offences. He has appeared in some of the highest profile cases in the country including alleged offences against high profile individuals including Premier League footballers and members of parliament. He has particular experience in defending in cases relating to the s1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and s127 of the Communications Act 2003. He often represents professional individuals who would have a lot to lose upon conviction.

If you find yourself accused of offences such as these you may contact Quentin for a no obligation discussion about your case.