Category: Latest News

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has written to NHS staff voicing his concern in relation to the use of violence against emergency workers. Hancock’s approach mirrors that taken last year by police chiefs worried about the rise in violence used towards police officers. Last year’s NHS Staff Survey revealed that… Continue reading Tougher Approach to Assaults on NHS Staff

If you ask most people how many people are selected to sit on a jury hearing a criminal case, the answer from most if not all will be 12. It can, therefore, come as something of a surprise to people facing trial at a crown court (and sometimes lawyers not well versed in crown court… Continue reading Jury Trial – Is 14 too many?

The Forensic Science Regulator regulates forensic scientists in England and Wales. The Regulator ensures that the provision of forensic science evidence across the criminal justice system is subject to appropriate standards. The Regulator has recently said that there are gaps in quality that need to be resolved. In its annual report, it was said that… Continue reading Forensic Evidence

Many professionals are held by their regulators to a higher standard than other members of the public. Conduct which may fall well short of being criminal in nature may nonetheless excite the interest of a regulator, with the potential for censure. In the most recent case of Diggins v Bar Standards Board [2020] EWHC 467… Continue reading Social Media – A Dangerous Place for Professionals?

Circumstantial evidence is widely misunderstood, and many people cannot understand how a case can be advanced without primary evidence of wrongdoing. To illustrate this, we can use two examples relating to burglary. Burglary can be committed in quite a few different ways, but the most common allegation is that a person entered a building as… Continue reading Circumstantial Evidence

It has been reported in the press that 500 people have been arrested while drunk on a plane at British airports in the last three years. For many people a holiday begins once cases have been checked in, and what is the harm in that? It is clear that drunkenness has become an issue. The… Continue reading Airports, Planes and Alcohol

A cut-throat defence is where one defendant gives evidence that is damaging to a co-defendant’s case, sometimes going as far as directly accusing the other person of the crime, while typically seeking to exonerate themselves. Such evidence may be given directly by a defendant (or more than one in some cases) as a positive aspect… Continue reading The Cut-Throat Defence

It is a common feature of American courtroom drama that a defence attorney moves to remove a juror that they do not like the look of. Many clients wonder whether the same type of challenge can take place in an English courtroom. The Jury Pool In some circumstances there can be a challenge to the… Continue reading Jury Challenge

The prosecution, via the Attorney General, has the right to ask the Court of Appeal to consider whether sentences for certain offences are unduly lenient. How does the scheme work? Anyone can ask the Attorney General to consider whether a sentence is unduly lenient. If the Attorney agrees an appeal will be lodged within 28… Continue reading More Sentences at Risk of Prosecution Appeal

In some instances, it is not convenient for a witness to be present in court to give evidence, generally because they live or work some distance away from the court, or some other good reason. There are legal provisions that cater for this scenario, and while the prosecution widely uses them (notably for police officers),… Continue reading The Absent Witness