Ian Bond successfully opposed an appeal against the duration of a suspended possession order, having obtained an 18-month period during the original hearing.
The Defendant raised three grounds. Firstly, the Learned Judge erred in law by failing to take account of material considerations or failed to give them sufficient weight. Secondly, the Learned Judge erred in law by making a decision that no other reasonable Judge would make. Thirdly, the Learned Judge took account of a mistake of fact namely that the spectre of proceedings informed the Appellant’s improved behaviour.
After submissions by both Counsel, which were described by the Circuit Judge as clear, succinct and excellent, he dismissed the appeal finding that the Learned Judge below had considered all the relevant factors and was entitled to exercise their discretion as to the weight to apply to said factors.
The Circuit Judge held that an 18-month period of suspension was at the top of the range for a reasonably directed Judge but was not unreasonable, and that it was a fair assessment on the facts for the Learned Judge to find that the matter should be seen through the prism of court proceedings and was entitled to take a view of scepticism that the behaviour of the Defendant would be good going forward.
Thank you to Chelsea Mckenna from Anchor Housing for the instruction
This site uses cookies that enable us to make improvements, provide relevant content, and for analytics purposes. For more details, see our Cookie Policy. By clicking Accept, you consent to our use of cookies.