Pro Bono Stories: More Than Meets the Eye
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. ?Visit our LinkedIn page to read about the life-changing and valuable work done by our pro bono lawyers during and after their term?in this series.
Marjorie Kong was a CLAS Fellow from 2018 to 2019.?Currently, she is an Assistant Manager for Law Society Pro Bono Services' Family Justice Support Scheme.
Her Story:
"My client was a 48-year-old man who hit his 78-year-old mother, causing her to sustain multiple injuries including rib fractures. Simply looking at the bare facts of the case, one would have wondered what there was to defend about an unfilial son abusing his own elderly mother.
Going through the rest of the case file, however, made it immediately apparent that there was more than meets the eye. My client had been battling with schizophrenia since 1993 and had to take medication regularly to keep the symptoms under control. He had adhered to the prescribed medication schedule and dosage until a few months before the incident, when he decided to reduce the dosage as he felt that the full dosage caused drowsiness and lethargy, which affected his work performance as a transporter of medical equipment.
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IMH assessed that my client was experiencing a relapse of his schizophrenia which made him irritable and contributed to him hitting his mother, who was nagging at him at the time of the incident. The psychiatrist also reported that since the incident, my client attended outpatient clinics and took the recommended dosage of medication regularly. It was assessed in the latest consultation that he was in remission of his illness, and the risk of violence was reduced as long as he continued treatment.
My client had been living with his mother since he was young, and they shared a close relationship prior to and even after the incident. His mother told the IMH psychiatrist that he had never been violent before the incident. I had also spoken to his sister, who accompanied him to almost every meeting with me and every court event. It was clear that the family was close-knit, and the incident was atypical.
Both his mother and sister accompanied him to the sentencing hearing. The court was convinced that rehabilitation was a real prospect because my client had been compliant with treatment and his sister was willing to take on the role of supervising him. The court ordered my client to undergo a Mandatory Treatment Order for 18 months, instead of an imprisonment term.
As I watched my client leave the courtroom holding his mother’s hand, I felt comforted that he was given a chance at rehabilitation, as going to jail may have left an indelible stain on their relationship."
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