Clients accused of harassment regularly approach us for help. Your harassment solicitor can do a lot to help you whether you are rightly or wrongly accused.
What is harassment?
Put simply, you commit harassment if you repeatedly contact somebody knowing that your actions amount to harassment.
The legal definition used by harassment solicitors:
- You pursue a course of conduct against another person(s);
- The course of conduct amounted to harassment; and
- You know, or should know, that your actions amount to harassment.
Course of conduct
A course of conduct means that you do something on at least two occasions if the offence is against an individual. If the allegation involves multiple people then, you must do something to each of them on at least one occasion each.
Conduct covers virtually everything. We have seen cases where our client was accused of sending cake and flowers as well as letters. Speech also counts, so if you speak to somebody on multiple occasions that could amount to a course of conduct too.
The prosecution must establish that events are a course of conduct, i.e. deliberate actions rather than a series of unrelated events. An ex-partner says you are harassing them because you are often in the same shop and say “hello” to them when you see them. The prosecutor will say this is a course of conduct because you are putting yourself there so you can speak to your ex. Your defence might be that you live in the same area and have always shopped in that store so the fact you see your ex is merely coincidence. In this way you are putting forward a defence to harassment by undermining the course of conduct element.
A legitimate contact may turn into harassment so far as the prosecution and courts are concerned. By way of example, we had a client who is accused of harassment of a woman to whom she sold a pet. The contact was initiated by the complainant and was legitimate initially. On the Crown’s case, the contacts became harassment when our client repeatedly asked for the pet to be returned to her.
Definition of harassment
Annoyingly, the offence of harassment defines itself using the word harassment, which isn’t very helpful.
We can understand harassment as being improper oppressive and unreasonable conduct that is targeted at an individual, or group of individuals. The purpose of the conduct must be to cause alarm or distress. It is not sufficient for acts to be merely unattractive and unreasonable. In Majrowski v Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust [2006] UKHL 34, the court held:
“… courts will have in mind that irritations, annoyances, even a measure of upset, arise at times in everybody's day-to-day dealings with other people. Courts are well able to recognise the boundary between conduct which is unattractive, even unreasonable, and conduct which is oppressive and unacceptable. To cross the boundary from the regrettable to the unacceptable the gravity of the misconduct must be of an order which would sustain criminal liability.”
It is not difficult then to see that you will have a defence if you can show that your acts were irritating or annoying but not oppressive and unreasonable.
Mens rea of harassment
The mens rea is the mental element of a crime. We have already touched upon the mental element of harassment in this post. The prosecution must show that you knew or ought to have known that your actions would cause harassment.
The test is objective. Your personal characteristics are irrelevant. This means that if you have a mental health condition that prevents you recognising the consequences of your actions on others the court should not take it into account. The exception to this is where the condition is so severe it provides a defence of insanity.
Because the test is objective, it will be difficult to mount a defence based on a lack of intention, but it is not impossible.
What can a harassment solicitor do to help?
What is a harassment solicitor? An harassment solicitor is one who regularly acts for clients accused of harassing somebody else.
The key way we can help you, is to guide you through the maze that is the law on harassment.
We will help identify the holes in the prosecution case – and there are nearly always some – and drive a wedge between those holes. Prosecutors often overplay the impact on complainants. In recent cases, prosecutors have argued that asking for a return of a pet was harassment. They have also cited the sending of a cake and flowers on an on/off partner’s birthday was harassment. The question needs to be asked whether either of those acts is oppressive and unreasonable at all. Our job is to help you show the court that they are not oppressive.
You may want to persuade the court that any interaction you had with the complainant was coincidental. We will help you put that point across by building an evidence pack that supports your case. This is likely to include things like maps of the area and statements from people who know you and your habits.
Accused of harassment? Do you want a skilled expert harassment solicitor in your corner? Call Hartley’s Solicitors on 020 8242 4496 today. You can also email us via our contact page.