Scorned woman shouldn’t have been tried, judges say

LONDON: A company director who scratched an offensive word into her ex-boyfriend’s cars should not have been prosecuted, judges have ruled.

Oxford-educated Jocelyn Robson, 40, etched “C***” in capital letters in the paintwork of Daniel Alder’s two vehicles after the couple split up.

The chartered accountant, formerly an audit manager at City of London firm Deloitte, admitted criminal damage and paid £4 000 (R77 000) compensation.

But the high court has ruled it was wrong to have prosecuted her for the offence, saying she should have been offered a caution instead.

Mother of two Robson, who runs an au pair agency and a company called Feel Great Factor, and Alder, a painter and decorator, were no longer living together at the time of the incident on May 5 last year.

He reported the incident to the police and named Robson, who has no previous convictions, as the person who had caused the damage to his silver Vauxhall Vivaro Sportive van and his Smart car.

Twice married Robson, from Melbourn, near Royston, Hertfordshire, was interviewed, made full admissions and was charged.

Alder, described in court as her “former domestic partner”, later tried to stop the prosecution, writing to the police saying he did not wish the case to go ahead and writing to the Crown Prosecution Service saying it was a waste of public funds.

Police wrote to him saying that if the offence did not involve domestic violence, they would have been able to caution her, as she admitted the offence without any defence and showed remorse. The prosecution also regarded the incident as one of domestic violence.

Robson sought judicial review of the decision to prosecute her for criminal damage rather than to offer her a conditional discharge.

Lord Justice Simon and Justice Ouseley ruled that the prosecution had regarded guidance as possessing no flexibility at all and had not considered whether a conditional caution might be offered as a rare exception.

The prosecution had misinterpreted policy, the judges said as they quashed the decision to prosecute, removing Robson’s conviction.

They said the prosecution should have considered Robson’s true attitude and the payment of compensation as a rare exception to the guidelines on prosecuting all domestic violence cases.

Robson is in a new relationship now. – Daily Mail