Character reference for court

[boyse7en]

A guy I know has asked me to write a character reference for him for a court case he is facing for a driving offence (serious one).
Ive known him for a number of years, but only through a sports club that we both attend, so I don't really have much knowledge of his personal life other than what we chat about.
I'm not sure what I need to write, or how much info I can provide other than that he's a nice guy who helps out at the club and is friendly and pleasant. Somehow that all sounds a bit superficial.
Anyone provided a character reference before Nd can give me any tips?

[NDA]

Not that tricky - just break it down into sections.

1. How long have you known him.
2. How do you know him.
3. How well do you know him (do you know his family etc) or only via the club.
4. How do you find him to be - honest? Professional? Kind? Truthful? etc

It only needs to be a paragraph.

HTH

[Louis Balfour]

boyse7en said:

A guy I know has asked me to write a character reference for him for a court case he is facing for a driving offence (serious one).
Ive known him for a number of years, but only through a sports club that we both attend, so I don't really have much knowledge of his personal life other than what we chat about.
I'm not sure what I need to write, or how much info I can provide other than that he's a nice guy who helps out at the club and is friendly and pleasant. Somehow that all sounds a bit superficial.
Anyone provided a character reference before Nd can give me any tips?

For all the good it is going to do, I'd simply say something like:

To Whom It May Concern

I have known Simon Smith for five years, in connection with his activities at my local rugby club, Oswaldtwistle Lions.

At all times, Simon is friendly and helpful as well as extremely committed to the club. To my knowledge, he transports young players to and from matches and assists regularly with Saturday coaching.

In my experience, Simon is a person of good character and an asset to his rugby club.

Should you have any further queries I can be contacted on 07986 123456 or at my home address above.

Yours faithfully

Boy Essen.

[Southerner]

You sound an odd choice of referee, does he something of a shortage of people willing to vouch for him? My main concern would be not ending up exaggerating your relationship with him, even unthinkingly. That could end badly for you. Don’t compromise yourself, keep it factual even if it seems so brief it’s not worth writing it. It’s his choice whether he uses it or not.

[OutInTheShed]

Southerner said:

You sound an odd choice of referee, does he something of a shortage of people willing to vouch for him? My main concern would be not ending up exaggerating your relationship with him, even unthinkingly. That could end badly for you. Don’t compromise yourself, keep it factual even if it seems so brief it’s not worth writing it. It’s his choice whether he uses it or not.

Possibly a choice on the grounds of not being connected as 'family' or 'relationship', or connected financially by business or work?

As above, state facts and state an opinion. Both of which you'd stand up for in court.
Make it clear what is 'fact' as you know it and what is your opinion.
Look for positives, but with a flavour of 'average sound ordinary bloke'?

[agtlaw]

boyse7en said:

A guy I know has asked me to write a character reference for him for a court case he is facing for a driving offence (serious one).
Ive known him for a number of years, but only through a sports club that we both attend, so I don't really have much knowledge of his personal life other than what we chat about.
I'm not sure what I need to write, or how much info I can provide other than that he's a nice guy who helps out at the club and is friendly and pleasant. Somehow that all sounds a bit superficial.
Anyone provided a character reference before Nd can give me any tips?

Link

[ferret50]

I needed one once for a court appearance that had totting up implications.

My employer provided something suitable, pointing out to the court that a ban would lose me my employment, thus leaving me with no income to pay a fine.

It worked!

[irc]

Sorry for going a bit off topic but will it matter anyway?

I immediately thought of the case where the then Deputy First Minister gave a character reference for a constituent begging that he not be given a custodial sentence. He then got 2 years for an £80k benefits fraud. The guy already had a previous conviction for a £60k fraud so why Sturgeon thought anything but pokey was appropriate for stealing from the taxpayer god knows.

Apparently a total of £140k of frauds were just "mistakes".


https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/may/12/benefit...

[CoolHands]

I knew a man from the sport club,
Whose driving was rather subpar.
He’d speed down the lane, ignoring the rain,
Till he crashed and dented his car.

[HTP99]

ferret50 said:

I needed one once for a court appearance that had totting up implications.

My employer provided something suitable, pointing out to the court that a ban would lose me my employment, thus leaving me with no income to pay a fine.

It worked!

Is that a character reference though, I'd say it isn't it is just your employer setting what will happen to you if you lost your job?

I do find the thing about character references in court a strange one, surely it should be tried on the presented facts of the case, why should it matter what a nice or reliable person you are, according to an acquaintance or friend!

My dad gave a character reference for our GP who sexually assaulted many of his female patients over a 24 year period, I know some of his victims and I know much of it was covered up by the practice, he is now in prison after a second trial, why should a positive character witness statement sway any decisions on conviction.

[oobster]

CoolHands said:

I knew a man from the sport club,
Whose driving was rather subpar.
He’d speed down the lane, ignoring the rain,
Till he crashed and dented his car.

Very good!

[boyse7en]

HTP99 said:

I do find the thing about character references in court a strange one, surely it should be tried on the presented facts of the case, why should it matter what a nice or reliable person you are, according to an acquaintance or friend!

My dad gave a character reference for our GP who sexually assaulted many of his female patients over a 24 year period, I know some of his victims and I know much of it was covered up by the practice, he is now in prison after a second trial, why should a positive character witness statement sway any decisions on conviction.

I think the character reference in this case was required/desired as he was pleading guilty. It's more to do with the sentencing rather than the verdict.

Anyway. He pleaded guilty and, unsurprisingly, was found guilty. He has now had his sentencing hearing postponed for the third time.

[BertBert]

are you planning on writing the character reference?

[Scotty2]

This is the official guidance. Don't ask me why I know...

The reference should be:
- preferably one page but no more than two
- neatly written or typed
- signed and dated
The reference should be addressed to:
- The Chief Clerk (in Crown Court proceedings)
- The Clerk to the Justices (in Magistrates’ Court proceedings)
The referee should include:
- their name and occupation
- how long they have known you
- how they know you
- their opinion of your character
- examples of matters demonstrating your good character
- any other relevant matters
The referee should not include:
- their opinion of the appropriate sentence
- anything false or something they are not sure about
- something they would not want to see printed in a newspaper

[agtlaw]

Scotty2 said:

This is the official guidance. Don't ask me why I know...

The reference should be …

I wrote that.

[boyse7en]

agtlaw said:

I wrote that.

Well thanks, as I found that when I googled it back when I wrote the reference and used it as my guidance.
It was very helpful as I knew nothing about how to go about it

[Evanivitch]

HTP99 said:

I do find the thing about character references in court a strange one, surely it should be tried on the presented facts of the case, why should it matter what a nice or reliable person you are, according to an acquaintance or friend!

It's part of the inequality of the justice system, being judged by your associations (and therefore social standing) and not by your own actions.

[boyse7en]

BertBert said:

are you planning on writing the character reference?

I wrote it about six weeks ago, and he took to court for his hearing. I guess they hold it for the sentence hearing, which we are still waiting for (it's been rescheduled three times so far. Next date is mid March)

[Enut]

agtlaw said:

Scotty2 said:

This is the official guidance. Don't ask me why I know...

The reference should be …

I wrote that.

Are you going to sue for plagiarism?

[Scotty2]

Sorry, I thought it was a standard template.
Apologies.
Very helpful though.