Legal Article
05/04/24
New public order powers to prevent individuals from causing repeated serious disruption came into force on 5th April 2024. The Government says that: "In recent years, we have seen an increase in protest tactics that are dangerous and cause serious disruption. The Government is committed…
Legal Article
22/03/24
The government has introduced the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill before Parliament; if passed, the resultant Act will automatically overturn convictions for certain offences linked to the Post Office Horizon scandal. The Post Office Horizon IT scandal has been described as the one of UK…
Legal Article
22/03/24
A package of six new sentencing guidelines for offenders convicted of immigration offences in England and Wales have been published by the independent Sentencing Council following changes in legislation. Under the proposals, judges and magistrates will - for the first time - have dedicated…
Legal Article
22/03/24
In the case of Attorney General's Reference on a Point of Law No 1 of 2023 [2024] EWCA Crim 243, the Court of Appeal considered the defence of "lawful excuse" in the context of criminal damage committed by protestors. In 2020, a group targeted the premises of a number of organisations…
Legal Article
08/03/24
The High-Profile & Private Crime Division, led by Partner Craig MacKenzie, secured acquittals for our client following a seven-week trial at Manchester Crown Court. The team instructed Ian McMeeking of Lincoln House Chambers in the case, which involved the supply of drugs across Greater Manchester…
Legal Article
07/03/24
Measures have been signed into law this week to ban keeping primates as pets. The legislation brings in a licensing scheme setting strict rules to ensure that only private keepers who meet new welfare and licensing standards can keep primates, delivering on a government manifesto commitment and…
Legal Article
07/03/24
The Spring Budget was delivered by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on the 6th of March 2024 and offered little comfort regarding the criminal justice system. Overall departmental spending is said to rise by 1%, but this is not evenly spread, with protected spending, such as on the NHS, receiving a more…
Legal Article
01/03/24
The Prison and Young Offender Institution (Adjudication) (Amendment) Rules 2024 come into force on 31 May 2024 and will make a number of important changes in relation to prisoner discipline and punishment. These changes are intended to improve behaviour management in prisons by ensuring serious…
Legal Article
01/03/24
Pupil non-attendance is a deeply worrying issue and statistics demonstrate that the problem has significantly worsened since the pandemic, with increasing numbers of children seemingly lost to the education system. This is on top of the numbers of children missing selective school days for holidays and…
Legal Article
21/02/24
Last week Nicholas Hawkes become the first person to be convicted for the new offence of "Cyber Flashing". Hawkes sent unsolicited photos of his erect penis to a 15-year-old girl and a woman. The woman took screenshots of the image on WhatsApp and reported Hawkes to Essex Police the same…
Legal Article
19/02/24
The latest government statistics give an interesting insight into the continuing prevalence of knife crime in England & Wales. The year-end figure for all knife offences shows a 2% decrease in offending, but this still represents an increase of 17% compared to a decade earlier. '…
Legal Article
02/02/24
Draft guidelines for sentencing offenders convicted of blackmail, kidnap or false imprisonment were published by the independent Sentencing Council. Under the proposals, judges will, for the first time, have dedicated guidelines to follow when sentencing these offences. The new guidelines will…
Legal Article
01/02/24
There has been a lot of press coverage following reports before Christmas that the Court of Appeal had freed a woman prisoner due to her being pregnant. The lady had previously received a mandatory five-year minimum term for a firearms offence, so the revelation that the sentence was reduced to two…
Legal Article
01/02/24
In new proposals, the government intends to strengthen controls over social housing for some persons convicted of criminal offences. Housing Minister Lee Rowley said: "Today, we are proposing further steps to make the allocation of social housing fairer for people. If you abuse the…
Legal Article
12/01/24
Newly published research suggests that pre-recorded evidence in chief and cross-examation, often referred to as "section 28 evidence", may be more advantageous to the accused than live evidence given in court before a jury. Conviction rates are reported to be 10% lower when this type of…
