Sania Nissar of the Garden Court Criminal Defence Team acted for the defendant.
The defendant was a 29-year-old man facing an allegation of theft of a Range Rover vehicle which was valued at over £100,000.
The Crown alleged that the defendant, MB had conspired with D1, who had earlier pleaded to theft of this Range Rover and nine other thefts/attempted thefts of other Range Rovers. Both MB and D1 had been found together, very shortly after the theft, in an alleyway with the stolen Range Rover and a stolen Toyota nearby.
Despite being convicted in the first trial of handling the stolen Toyota, the jury were unable to decide on the principal count of theft. The matter was ultimately set down for a retrial, in which Sania reappeared as defence counsel.
There was only a single day of evidence, which condensed telephone and DNA evidence into a set of agreed facts, read statements and the officer in the case as the only live witness. There was no evidence called by the defence. Despite the jury being aware of the conviction relating to the Toyota, they were again unable to decide upon a verdict. The Crown indicated they will not proceed to a third trial.
MB is now due to be sentenced on the single count of handling stolen goods.
