One of your worst nightmares might come true if your child is arrested for a traffic or criminal offence.
Firstly, you will be wondering whether your child has actually been involved in criminal activities or whether someone has leveled false accusations against him or her. Secondly, the fear and stress of seeing your child in jail can be extremely hard to handle.
It is a difficult time for the whole family but anxiety and stress are not going to help you or your child in any way. You need to try to stay calm and think wisely because being highly emotional and over-anxious will only make matters worse.
Here are few useful tips to help you during such a hard time:
1. Remain Calm and Composed
After finding out that your child has been charged with an offence, you might want to confront your child, be mad at the police or simply feel guilt for not being able to bring up your child in a decent way. However, all these negative feelings are useless and cannot help you or your child. You need to try your best to stay calm, analyse the situation wisely and comply with the orders and suggestions of the police. You need to be respectful towards them and if you feel like things are getting out of your control, then simply ask for a lawyer and resume questioning once you have spoken with your lawyer.
2. Appoint a Good Lawyer
When appointing a lawyer to represent your child, you need to be careful about making the right choice. You need to appoint someone who has the prior experience necessary to deal with your child’s particular charges. It is ideal to look for a lawyer who has a good reputation and has friendly relations with local police and community, as these factors are important for the successful resolution of many court cases.
You should also interview a lawyer before appointing him or her. In such an interview, you need to see if the lawyer can assess and solve your child’s case as well as the costs involved. If you are not satisfied with your first choice, then it is always better to move on.
3. Be Informed
It is important to be informed about your child’s case at all times. You should thoroughly research the charges your child is facing and try to find out as much as you can about the court processes, procedures and so on. Depending on the charges, your child could be in and out of court many times before the matter is resolved. If you know what is happening and why, you will be in a better position to help your child.
It is also important to discuss with your child the attitude they should adopt because it will only make matters worse if they are argumentative with the police, prison staff or their own lawyer. Whenever you get a chance, you should make sure that your child knows where their case is up to and you should also make sure that their lawyer is maintaining regular contact with him or her.
4. Be Prepared
You need to be prepared for the stresses that can come as a result of your child being charged with an offence.
The Queensland criminal justice system is confusing and cases can take many months or even years before they are finalised. Be aware that this will be an extremely stressful period in your life and that it may end up consuming your daily thoughts. Seek support from those around you who you feel comfortable discussing this matter with.
Contact Harper Finch Lawyers
If your child have been charged with a traffic or criminal offence, contact us now. We are sensitive to the particular needs of young people and we will fight for your child’s rights until the very end.