Janick Fielding secures an acquittal at Bournemouth Crown Court

On 21st October 2022, Janick Fielding, with the ever-invaluable assistance of Aileen Tring from Simon Lacey & Co., secured the acquittal at Bournemouth Crown Court of a family man, in his mid-sixties and of lifelong impeccable character, who had in 2017 been accused out of the blue in relation to a string of sexual offences allegedly committed against a female member of a social group with whom he had a connection over 30 years ago.

He attended voluntarily at the police station within a day of being contacted, answered every question the police had of him despite never being under arrest, authorised a detailed account to be advanced in his defence statement, provided the minutiae of his work history for the police to investigate alibi, dealt with numerous deliberately-late, often mid-trial disclosures from the complainant, maintained a respectful silence whilst witnesses changed their evidence, coped with the damage done to his mental health by the trauma of the allegations, swallowed the shame of his name and details of the allegations appearing in the press for several years, gave honest evidence that at times damaged his own case, forgot to give evidence that would have helped his case (to the despair of his counsel), wept as references were read from numerous family and friends recounting a life dedicated selflessly to others, never once questioned the tactical direction of his team, got through a trial with a hung jury, cancelled listings and a retrial, and was unanimously acquitted on all counts.

Marathon effort, hard-fought victory, and now he can just pick up his life and move on, apparently, which is all you get for winning… and a small proportion of his costs.