A large number of people are subject to notification requirements under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, many for an indeterminate period. The notification framework is often referred to as the ‘sex offender register’, and around 60,000 people are affected (although not all of those are subject to indeterminate notification). Last week several…
Many people face court proceedings who do not necessarily have a detailed grasp of the English language. A defendant mustn’t be a mere observer of legal proceedings and that they, as fully as anyone not legally qualified can, participate fully. It is therefore vital that a qualified and competent interpreter is engaged to assist in…
The festive season is a time to kick back and enjoy a little rest and recuperation before 2020 hits us all like a brick and life carries on as usual. While we will be hoping to enjoy some well-earned rest, our team remains on standby to act when our services are needed. This firm participates…
In legislative terms 2019 was a pretty quiet year with parliament being so heavily occupied with Brexit, there was little time for anything else. 2020 promises to be somewhat different, the government has a substantial parliamentary majority, and being ‘tough on crime’ seems once again to be a popular political topic. The recent Queen’s Speech…
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 of…
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…
Section 34 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 states that a court may make an order disqualifying a defendant from keeping animals. When can the order be made? The defendant must have been convicted of a specified offence under the Act (section 4, 5, 6(1), 6(2), 7, 8 or 9). The purpose of the order…
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…
When people think about drink/drug driving, it is often based on a narrative that involves a man, leaving a pub late at night, driving erratically and being stopped by the police. This scenario is sometimes the backdrop to an arrest for drink or drug driving, but more often, the story is quite different. The morning…
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,…
