Pro Bono Stories: Changing a Young Adult’s Life Beyond the Law
The Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS) was launched in 1985. A ground-up movement by senior lawyers, including the late Mr Harry Elias SC, CLAS has played and will continue to play a critical role in providing criminal legal aid for vulnerable persons.
CLAS Fellows are junior lawyers who work with our charity full time as pro bono defence counsel on short term contracts sponsored by our generous supporters. After their term, many of our CLAS Fellows continue to fly the pro bono flag high by volunteering with our programmes or taking on other roles in the charity. ?Read about the life-changing and valuable work done by our pro bono lawyers during and after their term in this series.
Sadhana Rai was a CLAS Fellow from 2015 to 2016, and a CLAS Advocate from 2016 to 2021.?Currently, she is an Assistant Director of Representation with Law Society Pro Bono Services.
Her story:
"My client was 17 years old when a classmate asked him if he would like to get a medical certificate together. Thinking it was a good opportunity to skip school, he agreed quickly, only to find himself an unwitting pawn in a much larger insurance scam run by motor insurance fraudsters who were unknown to him.
In essence, my client was told to obtain a medical certificate from a doctor by falsely claiming that he had injured his back as a rear passenger in a traffic accident among three vehicles.?He then falsely filed personal injury claims against two motor insurance companies. However, investigations revealed that the accident had been staged by the fraudsters. My client was charged with abetment of cheating for his participation in the fraudulent scheme. He did not receive any financial benefit from his participation, but his moment of folly led to the next five years of anxiety and uncertainty as he went through investigations and legal proceedings.
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At the time of sentencing, my client had reached 22 years of age. I knew we faced an uphill battle in convincing a judge that he ought to be considered for probation since he was past the age of 21.?When I spoke to my client, I could sense a genuine and honest desire to change. He had remained out of trouble for the past five years, engaged in meaningful employment, built strong relationships with his family and in the community, and planned earnestly for his future. I could see the hope he had for himself, and I shared in that hope with him.
We were determined to show his progress. My colleague Khadijah and I argued that my client was a prime candidate for probation. We also referred to the glowing reviews of his performance in National Service, how he was assessed to have strong support from his family members, and had made a conscious effort to dissociate himself from the negative influences that he had previously exposed himself to, such as alcohol consumption and certain peers.
At first instance, we were unable to convince the court. My client was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment. My client, though broken, was undefeated and wanted to push on to appeal against the sentence. In retrospect, all he really wanted was for someone to believe in him, and the change he was capable of.
Fortunately for him, the Chief Justice saw that potential in him, and allowed the appeal."
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