advice about character references

[user1]

Please can anyone give me - or point me to - some general advice about getting character references for court, eg:
Who should they be from (does it matter what is their profession, how they know me, can they be related to me?)
What they should contain
How long they should be
How many should I get

Is it worth getting one from my employer who has only known me 6 months? or from my brother? or from my girlfriend? Would these carry any weight?

Thanks in advance

[Buenchico]

Get as many as possible. (I know of someone who had over 40!). Ask the people writing them to send them to your solicitor. He/she will decide whether to just put forward the 'strongest' two or three, or to submit the whole lot to the court.

A court would probably give less weight (if any at all) to a character reference from a family member (or girlfriend) than they would to one from, say, an employer. (Your employer might have only known you for 6 months but that's plenty of time for him/her to recognise that you're a reliable and trustworthy employee). However, there's nothing to prevent a relative or girlfriend from writing a character reference for you. (Just leave it up to your solicitor to decide whether it's worth putting before the court).

It's entirely up to the people writing the character references as to what they write but here's a rough draft for you:

"To whom it may concern, in the matter of Regina v John User1:

I have known John User1 since he entered into my employment in January 2008. During this period he has been an exemplary employee. He has always been punctual, reliable, honest and trustworthy.

Further, he has related well to other staff, as well as the members of the public with whom he has come into contact.

The matters which bring John User1 before the court are totally out of character for him. I know that he feels genuinely ashamed of his actions and I am confident that he will not reoffend.

Yours respectfully,

A Employer"

As I stated previously, get as many references as possible. Some magistrates or judges might be impressed by the professional qualifications of the people providing the references; others might not. However, if you know any teachers or lecturers who've taught you over the past few years, it might be asking them for a character reference.

Chris

[bonerjones]

Hi mate ,all you need is a few good ones.If the judge reads them he or she doesn't want to be bogged down with a load more paperwork When I got done for GBH a customer whoom I was friendly with offered to write one ,It was so good ,full of big words and phrases,and well written.Simply addressed to whoom it may concern.Another was from a friend who owned a gardening company, a good friend and his brother in law who used to be a tennant of mine,a manager of old folks home who used to be my neighbour,and one from my girlfriend who was not prompted in anyway.She included some of my better qualities and stated the fact that we were going through IVF and if she'd thaught I was a violent person she would have no way contenplated it..It was simply not in my character.
You'll find your friends and people who know you will go out of there way to help you.
I'm sure these references went a long way in my favour.Everyone makes mistakes even the judge.Just make sure your solicitor gets them to the judge beforehand as when I appeared at a hearing they'd not seen them.My solicitor told me that had he ,he may have given an indication as to whether the sentence would be custodial or not.
In my view references go along way.
Anyway what you up for ?