The WA Police charged our client with 19 serious charges of historical sexual offences. It is unclear precisely how charges were allowed to be laid at all, given the complete lack of evidence in this case. On receiving the disclosure material, James Jackson determined there was clearly no prima facie case for any of the charges. That is, not only was there no evidence in support of the charges, but it was an obvious case of mistaken identity. Someone else was actually the offender and the police had not bothered to determine who that was. Disturbingly, they had charged our client without realizing that somebody else had actually committed the alleged offences.

James Jackson presented a submission to the State DPP requesting that all charges be discontinued. On receipt, the DPP inquired further with the police, who confirmed that our client was not in fact the offender. All charges were dropped at the next court appearance.

Our work in this case saved our client from serving many years in prison for crimes that he did not commit. It also serves as a salutary warning of the dangers of mistaken identity in every case involving criminal charges, and the importance of closely scrutinizing the evidence in every single case.