Nicholas Berry defended and Jamie Scott prosecuted Jordan Herring in a case that drew national attention following two trials concerning the violent assault of his teenage girlfriend.
Prosecutors alleged that Herring subjected the complainant to a pattern of abusive and controlling behaviour before taking her on the run and seeking refuge at his mother’s high-rise council flat. It was alleged that, during a jealous rage, he threw her approximately 40 feet from a fourth-floor window, causing life-threatening injuries.
At the first trial, the jury convicted Herring of controlling and coercive behaviour but acquitted him of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on charges of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
A retrial followed on the outstanding allegations that related to his act of throwing his girlfriend out of the window. Herring was acquitted of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but was convicted of the alternative offence of causing grievous bodily harm. He was sentenced to a 5 year extended term of imprisonment in April.
The case attracted widespread national media coverage: