Category: Latest News

A strange case at the Old Bailey drew to a close this week, resulting in a Metropolitan Police Officer, Robyn Williams, being sentenced to a community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, concerning the possession of an indecent video of a child. On the face of it, the sentence is not at all surprising,… Continue reading Divided Loyalty Can Exact a High Price

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

Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has published a new report in relation to the investigation and prosecution of rape cases. The significant findings are: • Since 2016, the number of cases prosecuted by the CPS has fallen by 52%. This is despite the fact that there has been a 43% rise in the number… Continue reading Investigating and Prosecuting Rape Cases

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