About
A free weekly collection of criminal law links - for practitioners, law students, and anyone with an interest in the criminal justice system of England and Wales.
Curated by Sam Willis, a barrister at 5 King's Bench Walk.
News
London Bridge Attack
The man who carried out Friday's stabbing attack at London Bridge was a former prisoner convicted of terrorism offences. The attacker, named by police as 28-year-old Usman Khan, was out of prison on licence at the time of the attack, in which a man and a woman were killed and three others were injured.
The Parole Board said it had no involvement in Khan's release, saying he "appears to have been released automatically on licence (as required by law)".
The Court of Appeal decision in R v Usman Khan can be found here.
'Hillsborough: David Duckenfield found not guilty of manslaughter'
The former South Yorkshire police chief superintendent David Duckenfield has been found not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter more than 30 years after he commanded the police at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, at which 96 people died.
The verdict came in a retrial at Preston crown court that began on 7 October. A first trial on the same charge, heard by the same judge, Sir Peter Openshaw, ended on 3 April with the jury unable to reach a verdict.
'Charges dropped against more than 100 Extinction Rebellion protesters'
More than 100 Extinction Rebellion protesters have had charges against them dropped after the ban forbidding protest in London last month was ruled unlawful.
The Crown Prosecution Service decision will affect about 105 cases immediately, mostly those involving defendants facing trial for allegedly breaching section 14 of the 1986 Public Order Act. Others formally accused of obstructing the highway will also have the cases against them discontinued, the CPS confirmed. Many cases will still go ahead.
Operation Midland Compensation
Former MP Harvey Proctor is to receive £500,000 in compensation from Scotland Yard over its disastrous investigation into false claims of a VIP paedophile ring.
The former Conservative politician, whose home was raided following claims made by fantasist Carl Beech, is to also receive nearly £400,000 from the Metropolitan Police towards his legal bills, the force told the PA news agency.
'30 more courts join the professional access (ID card) scheme'
I am delighted to be able to tell you that another 30 courts have been added to the professional access (ID card) scheme, that allows members of the Bar to gain easier access to the courts.
'Rape cases should be investigated through a grand jury-style system, senior judge says' (£££)
Rape cases should be investigated through a grand jury-style system to encourage more victims to take their attackers to court, a senior judge has proposed.
Peter Murphy, a circuit judge, said the process - similar to investigating magistrates in Europe - would provide victims with greater privacy by enabling a judge to decide what information about their sexual past could be disclosed to police and prosecutors.
Cases
R v McChleery [2019] EWCA Crim 2100
We deal first with good character. Regrettably, the judge did not give a good character direction. The judge did make reference to the fact that the appellant had no previous convictions and contrasted that with the position of the complainant. The appellant was entitled to a good character direction comprising what, for shorthand, is described as "both limbs"...
... A failure to give a good character direction when one is called for, or to give it subject to inappropriate qualification or comment, does not automatically lead to a conviction being quashed. It all depends upon the nature of the case in question. The context of this case was a straightforward conflict of evidence between the complainant and the appellant in circumstances where there was little independent evidence to assist the jury in deciding the issue. Credibility was all. In those circumstances we consider that the good character direction was of importance.
Education
Kalisher Essay Competition
We are delighted to announce the launch of the Kalisher Essay Competition 2019, with a substantial prize of £2,000 (plus a ticket to the Kalisher Theatrical Event). Open to all pupils currently undertaking a criminal pupillage, we invite submissions of up to 2,000 words in answer to the following question: “Section 4 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 introduces a new offence of ‘entering or remaining in a designated area’ outside the United Kingdom. The provision is intended to protect the public from the risk of terrorism. However, it is not retrospective. Should it have been?”
Other
'Algorithmic-based decision-making is risk to justice'
Caroline Goodwin QC told the Bar Council conference on Saturday that algorithmic-based decision-making was increasingly being used in the criminal justice system. For example, she said, Durham police was using predictive technology to decide whether a suspect should be kept in custody, and questioned: “What’s wrong with using common sense and local knowledge?”
Ms Goodwin said there were “grave concerns” over the use of AI in the justice system, as well as questions over the quality of the data and who owned it. While technology has the potential to save-money, she said it needed to be managed and regulated.