Following on from the terror attacks at Fishmongers Hall on 29 November 2019 and in Streatham on 2 February 2020 the government has announced the next phase of its tougher approach to terrorism offences. What are the aims of this proposed legislation? The Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill, is designed to further strengthen the approach taken…
It is quite common to read in a newspaper that someone has been arrested. Local papers will cover almost any story of interest, and national media if the case involves a high-profile person. For the person being investigated, such publicity can be devastating, as many people will conclude that there is ‘no smoke without fire’.…
In a recent case, the Court of Appeal dealt with an appeal by the Attorney General against a sentence of 30 months imprisonment imposed following a guilty plea to various firearms offences. The basis of plea, accepted in full by the prosecution read: “[that] he converted weapons as a hobby, the weapons were not distributed,…
For some new drivers, six penalty points mean resitting a driving test, for other drivers twelve points may mean disqualification. It is therefore vital to ensure that a single piece of driving is not unduly punished when it comes to the imposition of penalty points. To explain the issues that can arise, we will use…
When people hear reference to the far-right many would think of racism rather than terrorism. Alice Cutter and Mark Jones were members of the banned far-right group National Action along with Garry Jack, Daniel Ward and Connor Scothern. The members were the subject of a counter-terrorism investigation, and when Ward was told he was being…
The local authority has the power to prosecute in respect of a number of types of crime. This could be certain types of benefit fraud, fly-tipping, fraudulent use of a blue badge, health and safety offences, noise nuisance, irregular school attendance, issues with taxi licensing and breaches of planning notices. Can they prosecute anything? Section…
When a judge makes a ruling at a crown court trial relating to one or more of the offences faced, the prosecution may have a right to appeal against that ruling. The right to appeal against a terminating ruling is strictly conditional upon certain procedures being followed. The right to appeal requires the prosecution to…
There are several types of criminal appeals. Appeals against conviction or sentence Cases start in the Magistrates Court. If you want to appeal against a conviction or sentence in that Court, you can appeal to the Crown Court. If you are dealt with in the Crown Court and want to appeal against a conviction or…
Before a prosecution is commenced, the Crown Prosecution Service must apply two distinct tests. The first is whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction; If not, the case does not proceed further. If there is sufficient evidence, the second question must be answered, namely whether a prosecution is in the…
The dictionary definition of “to mitigate” is to lessen in force or intensity, to make less severe. Mitigation is the act of reducing how harmful, unpleasant or bad something is, something that causes the court to judge a crime to be less serious or to make a punishment less severe. There are obvious mitigating factors…
