All posts in the Criminal trial category

One year on: how well did the courts deal with the 2011 riots?

Last week eight men were acquitted of the murder of three men who died in Birmingham during the 2011 riots. This draws to a close a year in which the courts have been forced to deal with an almost unprecedented wave of violent, theft-related and public order cases. So what can we conclude from the way in which the courts dealt with the aftermath of the disorder?

According to the Ministry of Justice, by 15 June 2012 3,051 people (of an estimated 15,000 participants) had been brought before the courts in relation to the riots. Interestingly, it does not appear that any prosecutions were brought for the substantive offence of riot; the highest percentage of charges were for either violent disorder or robbery, followed by burglary, criminal damage and theft. There were also charges for incitement to riot, notably those cases involving social networking websites. A charge of riot requires 12 or more participants, rather than the three required for a violent disorder charge. There is also the added hurdle of the requirement of unlawful violence for a common purpose. Overcoming this final hurdle may have been the main issue for the CPS.

New guidelines for dangerous dogs offences – barking up the right tree?

The law relating to dangerous dogs has garnered substantial media attention in recent years, stemming from a spate of high profile and harrowing attacks on individuals, many involving young children. With each new case, calls for reform of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 have become louder and more persistent. That statute, introduced rapidly and pandering to a public frenzy arising from pitbull attacks, has been widely criticised for banning specific dog breeds rather than creating robust offences which would adequately punish irresponsible dog ownership. The Government, however, has been slow to respond to calls for enhanced regulation and tougher sanctions. Last week saw the first legal fruits of numerous consultations with the publication of new sentencing guidelines. This is not the only development in the pipeline as the Government gears up to close the loophole which allows dog owners whose animals attack a person while lawfully on private property to escape prosecution.

New review of sanctions for disclosure failures in criminal cases announced

On 26 April 2012, the Lord Chief Justice announced that Lord Justice Gross and Mr Justice Treacy will be heading a review of sanctions for disclosure failures in criminal cases, and considering whether there are options for strengthening them. This follows on the heels of a September 2011 review into criminal disclosure in general and is a welcome next step.

Charles Taylor: guilty, but what does it mean for international law?

Charles Taylor, the deposed president of Liberia, was found guilty of 11 charges including murder, rape, sexual slavery and enforced amputations, unanimously, by a UN-backed tribunal, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, in The Hague on 26 April 2012. The man who “aided and abetted” war crimes in Sierra Leone heard the judgment with hands clasped in front of him, blinking as the list of his criminal responsibility was read out. Mr Taylor is the first ex-head of state to be prosecuted by an international criminal court since Admiral Karl Donitz, the man who assumed control of Nazi Germany following Hitler’s suicide, in 1946.

On camera – televising criminal proceedings

Television cameras were today allowed to record the sentencing of David Gilroy in the High Court in Edinburgh. This is the first time that sentencing in a UK court has been filmed for broadcast the same day – normally proceedings in Scotland are only occasionally filmed for documentaries to be broadcast weeks or months later and are heavily edited by lawyers involved in the case. Filming in most English courts has been banned since 1925.

Clamping down on scrap metal thieves

Following a dramatic rise in prices and a spate of incidents which have seen rail networks disrupted, church roofs pillaged and towns plunged into darkness, the scrap metal theft “epidemic” has been thrust into the spotlight. The issue has even made it into an episode of Eastenders – a sure sign of topicality! But why scrap metal? Simply put, scrap metal is hard to identify and can be sold for cash (at ever-increasing prices), making it an attractive category of stolen merchandise. It may seem like a niche offence but metal theft is estimated to cost the country £1 billion annually, with more than 1,000 offences taking place every week.

Blagging and the DPA – is it time to make offences imprisonable?

Despite it being almost 10 years since the start of Operation Motorman, and the subsequent furore which lead to the closure of the News of the World, it is still not possible for a person found guilty of illegally obtaining and disclosing personal information to be imprisoned for that offence. However, strong words from the Information Commissioner’s Office this week suggest that this may be ripe for change.

Why cheating in sport is still a problem and what it means for the Olympics

Notwithstanding the shock felt by many cricket fans over the recent Pakistani spot-fixing case, cheating and corruption has long been a problem in sport. Ever since Hanse Cronje admitted taking money from betting syndicates in India and around the world more than a decade ago, the integrity of the modern game of professional cricket has been tarnished.

Does causing death by careless driving always mean prison?

The modern road safety regime means that, even if you haven’t touched a drop of alcohol, carelessness behind the wheel resulting in death could land you with a sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment. That’s the effect of the death by careless driving offence Parliament introduced in 2006. But what aggravating factors will a court take into account when sentencing careless drivers?

New power to appeal bail – the thin end of the wedge?

David Cameron has indicated that he intends to change the law to allow prosecutors to appeal against a Crown Court’s decision to grant bail. Following the announcement, which came as part of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (11 January 2012), the Ministry of Justice made the following statement: “Defendants who pose a danger to the public should always be remanded in custody while they are awaiting trial. The Government intends to strengthen the law in this area by allowing prosecutors to challenge Crown Court bail decisions where they feel a potentially dangerous prisoner could be bailed.” Although only a preliminary statement, this language does give cause for concern.