The Parole Board is an independent body that carries out risk assessments on prisoners serving certain sentences to determine whether they can be safely released into the community. When a person is considered to be fit for release it means that their risk has been reduced to a level where it is low enough to…
In a recent case His Honour Judge Jeremy Richardson QC was faced with the task of sentencing 3 offenders for their part in causing the death of 4 people, and seriously injuring 3 others. The main offender Elliot Bower received a total prison sentence of 11 1/2 years. The offence of causing death by dangerous…
The Voyeurism (Offences) (No 2) Bill completed its parliamentary journey on 15th January 2019 and will shortly receive Royal Assent. As the Act will create new criminal offences, the usual convention is that at least two months will pass before the offence comes in to force. Why was this law passed? This new law deals…
Community Protection Notices (CPNs) are currently attracting a lot of attention from the legal community, and we have many concerns concerning the way in which they are presently being used. In a recent case (Stannard v The Crown Prosecution Service [2019] EWHC 84 (Admin)) a CPN in the following terms was challenged: “The notice now…
On Monday the government unveiled its new strategy to tackle domestic abuse. This follows a consultation exercise carried out last year which drew over 3,000 responses. The new measures are: • Introducing the first ever statutory government definition of domestic abuse, which will include economic abuse • Establishing the office of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner…
You wake up one morning and the horror of the night before quickly unfolds. Blue lights and uniformed police officers greet you, search your house and find your girlfriend dead in the bathroom. You have no memory of anything happening overnight, and she was alive and well when you went to sleep. You are arrested…
It should go without saying that no plea ought to be entered in any criminal case unless and until the case has been appropriately considered. Regrettably, we see an increasing number of people, who have attended court alone, being pressured into entering a plea without having had the advantage of legal advice. It is vital…
The big news story of the weekend was the surprising news that the Prisons Minister is considering whether to abolish the power to impose short prison sentences, those of 6 months or less. Arguing for the need for reform, Mr Stewart told the Daily Telegraph Magazine: “You bring somebody in for three or four weeks,…
Was it an offence to accuse Anna Soubry of being a Nazi whilst she was broadcasting on Sky News? Potentially, is the answer. The Public Order Act 1986 contains the most likely candidates for any prosecution, in sections 4, 4A, and 5. These sections deal with ‘lower level’ public order offences. What are those provisions?…
It is a nightmare scenario that potentially any parent could face. A child returns home, late at night in an agitated state. He hurriedly tells you that he has been in a fight, it wasn’t his fault, but someone has been hurt, badly. Further details are not forthcoming, but he thinks the police will be…
