Issue 380  11th January 2025

Predators who create sexually explicit ‘deepfakes’ could face prosecution as the Government bears down on vile online abuse as part of its mission to make our streets safer. The proliferation of these hyper-realistic images has grown at an alarming rate, causing devastating harm to victims, particularly women and girls who are often the target. To tackle this, the government will introduce a new offence meaning perpetrators could be charged for both creating and sharing these images, not only marking a crackdown on this abhorrent behaviour but making it clear there is no excuse for creating a sexually explicit deepfake of someone without their consent.

The Government will also create new offences for the taking of intimate images without consent and the installation of equipment with intent to commit these offences – sending a clear message that abusers will face the full force of the law. While it is already an offence to share – or threaten to share – an intimate image without consent, it is only an offence to take an image without consent in certain circumstances, such as upskirting. Under the new offences, anyone who takes an intimate image without consent faces up to two years’ custody. Those who install equipment so that they, or someone else, can take intimate images without consent also face up to two years behind bars...

The Government will repeal two existing voyeurism offences that relate to the recording of a person doing a private act, and recording an image beneath a person’s clothing... They will be replaced with a range of new offences:

• Taking or recording an intimate photograph or film without consent or reasonable belief in it
• Taking or recording an intimate photograph or film without consent and with intent to cause alarm, distress, or humiliation
• Taking or recording an intimate photograph or film without consent or reasonable belief in it, and for the purpose of the sexual gratification of oneself or another

The Crown court backlog will continue to rise without ‘significant’ additional systemic reforms, the Ministry of Justice’s top civil servant told MPs yesterday. Giving evidence to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, permanent secretary Dame Antonia Romeo said: ‘Receipts have gone up significantly. Demand has increased dramatically. Demand is going to continue to grow and outstrip our ability to deal with that demand.’ There is ‘no silver bullet’ to resolving the backlog, Romeo added. ‘It is not just a temporary issue because of Covid, although that did originally increase demand. We are not going to be able to solve all these problems at once. What we are trying to do is reverse long-term trends’...

Questioned on the cost of Nightingale courts, Nick Goodwin, chief executive of HM Courts & Tribunals Service, told the committee that ‘the rule of thumb’ is that Nightingale courts are three times more expensive to run than conventional courts...

Ketamine could be upgraded to a Class A drug as the government seeks expert advice on its classification, the Home Office has said. Illegal use of the drug has reached record levels in recent years, with an estimated 269,000 people aged 16-59 reporting ketamine use in the year ending March 2024. Increasing ketamine's classification would bring it in line with drugs including cocaine, heroin and ecstasy (MDMA) and mean up to life in prison for supply and production. The policing minister will ask the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs whether its classification should be changed and "carefully consider" its findings.

Ketamine can cause serious health problems including irreversible damage to the bladder and kidneys. It is also one of the most detected drugs in incidents of spiking. While commonly used on animals and in healthcare settings, ketamine is also thought of as a party drug due to its hallucinogenic effects...

The government has said it remains committed to fast-tracking rape cases following reports that a manifesto pledge of specialist rape courts in every Crown court has effectively been put on ice. Specialist rape courts have long been part of Labour’s answer to tackle the Crown court backlog and reduce the amount of time rape cases take to reach court. Labour pledged at its 2022 party conference to introduce specialist rape courts in every Crown court...

According to the Observer newspaper this weekend, the government appears to have stalled on this particular manifesto commitment, after being told by Whitehall sources that ministers are now ‘carefully considering’ how to move forward, with any decisions waiting until after the Leveson review on criminal courts reports back this spring...