Category: Latest News

The government has announced that there will be new legislation designed to cut “crime and build safer communities”. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is intended to give the police: “the powers and tools they need to protect themselves and the public”.  The measures include: Positions of Trust  Existing legislation will be widened to include sports… Continue reading Cutting Crime and Building Safer Communities?

The existing assault guidelines came into effect in January 2012; at the same time, the attempt murder guideline was revised.  Following an “extensive and complex project”, new sentencing guidelines have been announced for certain violent offences, including new guidance for assaults on emergency workers. Sentencing guidelines are referred to by any sentencing tribunal to assist… Continue reading Assault Sentencing Guidelines

At the moment, profoundly deaf people rarely sit as jurors. There are strict laws that prevent anyone other than the twelve jurors from entering the deliberation room. This means that a sign language interpreter cannot enter the room. The purpose of the legislation preventing a “13th person” is to prevent any outside influence in the… Continue reading Deaf Jurors

Alan Foster, Donald Denton and Peter Metcalf were charged with perverting the course of justice, accused of altering the statements of 68 police officers following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. Denton and Foster were former senior police officers, Metcalf was the former police force solicitor for South Yorkshire. Their trial has been halted following a… Continue reading Hillsborough Prosecutions

What is good character? As far as the criminal courts are concerned, a person of good character is usually someone without convictions or cautions recorded against them. It is of particular relevance in a trial situation as the court will consider good character in assessing the likelihood of you committing the offence and also your… Continue reading Good Character as Mitigation

It is often said that the function of a Judge during a jury trial, is to act as referee as between prosecution and defence. Whilst a Judge is not entirely side-lined the expectation is that no bias will be displayed against any one party. When a Judge steps over the line and judicial intervention strays… Continue reading Judge as Referee

Very often in criminal cases, several witnesses give similar and sometimes almost identical evidence. At first, blush, if all the witnesses were at the same place, at the same time and witnessing the same event, surely that is to be expected? But if we pause for a moment and consider a group of football fans… Continue reading Witness Independence – Too Much Of A Coincidence?

Buying and/ or selling a house is an exciting, expensive and, at times, stressful experience in our lives. But, for those looking to buy their first home, the conveyancing process, can be quite overwhelming. There is a lot to organise; from legal matters to financial arrangements and various regulations to comply with. To help you… Continue reading Your Guide to Conveyancing

New sentencing guidelines for some drugs offences will come in to force on 1 April 2021 and will apply to all cases sentenced on or after that date. The update is to reflect modern drug offending and new guidelines for offences created by the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 to bring clarity and transparency around the… Continue reading Sentencing for Drugs Offences

Ano-genital findings, namely signs of injury or other non-natural interference, often form part of child abuse prosecutions. In recent years new research has cast doubt on some old beliefs, and it may be the case that some convictions are unsafe. The most recent authoritative guidance is that provided by the Royal College of Paediatrics and… Continue reading Interpretation of Ano-Genital Findings