Category: Latest News

Speeding is dangerous and in some cases, fatal, yet this type of offence is among the most common road traffic offences. Speed Limits Knowing the speed limits for the type of road you are on is vital. Whilst going too far can cause an accident, driving much too slowly for the road you are on… Continue reading Do You Need a Speeding Solicitor?

A new series on Netflix, ‘The Stranger’, is receiving rave reviews, with viewers keen to discover the secret being kept from lawyer Adam Price, as the search continues for his missing wife. There are many sub-plots along the way, including the blackmail of several individuals keen to suppress unsavoury stories making their way into the… Continue reading “Blackmail” – “…attempted murder of the soul.”

We often get asked how prosecutions can proceed in the absence of cooperation from the victim or chief witness. The starting point is that no prosecution can go ahead unless there is a realistic prospect of conviction, but how the prosecution case is formulated remains a matter for the Crown Prosecution to decide. These are… Continue reading Prosecuting Without A ‘Victim’

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?

In a truly tragic case, Samantha Ford drowned her 23-month-old twins in the bath. Appearing at the Old Bailey for sentence, the Judge, Mr Justice Edis, handed down a 10-year sentence, causing widespread outrage. Longer sentences are routinely handed down for drug dealing and other crimes. To understand more about this case, we need to… Continue reading Ten years for a double killing – look behind the headlines

In Chabloz v Crown Prosecution Service [2019] EWHC 3094 (Admin) the High Court dealt definitively with several highly technical legal challenges concerning Communications Act defences. On 25 May 2018 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Alison Chabloz, was convicted of three offences under section 127(1)(a) and (b) of the Communications Act 2003. She appealed her convictions to… Continue reading Online Abuse: Courts Keep Up with Modern Techniques

There have been widespread reports in the press about spare courtroom capacity, with judicial sitting days at an all-time low. These reports correspond to our own experience. When court delay is combined with significant delays in investigating and charging defendants to court, this can mean a very long period between the commission of any crime… Continue reading Sentencing and Delay – Can it Work in Your Favour?

In some cases, a court must order a pre-sentence report (s 156 Criminal Justice Act 2003), and a report will be appropriate in many instances when it is not a legal requirement. Sometimes a court may not be receptive to the idea of ordering a report, so we are always alive to the necessity of… Continue reading Pre-sentence Reports