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
'The Joseph McCann case: the error and its implications'
After the verdicts against McCann – in a case where the horrific nature of the evidence against him frequently distressed jurors and members of the court – it was revealed that he should have been in jail over a previous violent offence in 2008, but that he had instead been freed in error. Some experts have suggested that this failure may be evidence of the impact of austerity on the justice system.
McCann committed sexual offences while on licence for the burglary. Rape is classed as a serious further offence and as a result a “serious further offence review” was undertaken. It appears the error was uncovered by the review. As for blame, a number of parties should have been aware that McCann had been released on licence under the terms of an IPP and therefore should have been recalled rather than re-sentenced. Primarily, the probation service should have been aware. But police, prison authorities and the courts could all have had knowledge of these circumstances. The probation service has been under significant pressure since 2014 due to budget cuts and a major restructuring. It suffers from staff shortages and overwhelming workloads. The case will raise questions as to whether pressure on the services can in part explain why staff missed McCann’s licence terms.
Released Under Investigation Concerns
More than 93,000 suspected violent criminals and sex offenders have been released without restrictions by police in England and Wales since 2017, figures obtained by BBC Newsnight show. People suspected of offences including rape and murder have been among those "Released Under Investigation" (RUI).
Richard Miller of the Law Society said a "major scandal" was brewing over the way RUIs are being used. The Home Office said the cases must be regularly reviewed and managed. In 2017, the rules on pre-charge bail changed, making it more difficult for police to keep suspects on bail beyond 28 days. The overuse of RUIs, Mr Miller said, is the unintended consequence of the changes.
Oval Four Convictions Quashed
Three black men who were framed by a corrupt police officer for crimes they did not commit have been cleared after 47 years. Known as the “Oval Four”, Winston Trew, Sterling Christie, George Griffiths and Constantine “Omar” Boucher were arrested at Oval underground station in 1972. The operation was led by Det Sgt Derek Ridgewell, who was also the key prosecution witness, but was later jailed for conspiracy to steal and died in prison.
The Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, Mrs Justice McGowan and Sir Roderick Evans quashed the three men’s convictions at a brief hearing in London. Lord Burnett said there was “an accumulating body of evidence that points to the fundamental unreliability of evidence given by DS Ridgewell ... and others of this specialist group”.
'New police unit using social media to predict outbreaks of gang violence'
A new team of young officers is combing social media to predict outbreaks of violence and gang crime, police have revealed. The Metropolitan Police said the unit, codenamed Project Alpha, had already prevented “threats to life” and helped stop a string of copycat robberies targeting JD Sports.
Set up in June, Project Alpha has already dealt with 800 taskings. Eight officers, mostly under the age of 25 and born in “challenging” areas of London, are currently dedicated to the unit.
Cases
R v Sepulvida-Gomez [2019] EWCA Crim 2174
The grounds of appeal against sentence raise the issues of whether there was "forced/uninvited entry into the victim's home" and whether the victim was "particularly vulnerable due to personal circumstances".
We are satisfied that in this case the judge was wrong to say that in this case there was "forced/uninvited entry into victim's home". This is because A was asleep in a bedroom in a flat to which the appellant had been invited for a party. It is true that he went into B's bedroom where A was asleep without permission, but that is different from "forced/uninvited entry into victim's home" because the appellant had been invited into the flat. This was not a case of entering into a separated one room flat or bedsit.
On the other hand we are sure that the judge was right to find that A was "particularly vulnerable due to personal circumstances". The personal circumstances were that A had drunk half a bottle of wine and was asleep in her boyfriend's bed in his bedroom. A person in such circumstances is particularly vulnerable because they are defenceless, compare R v Bunyan [2017] EWCA Crim 872 at paragraph 25...
So far as is material a SHPO cannot be imposed unless it is necessary for the purpose of protecting the public or any particular members of the public from sexual harm from the defendant, see section 103A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003... In our judgment a condition without limit in time prohibiting the appellant from taking any employment, freelance or otherwise, or occupation which involved him being alone in a room with any female, without providing 24 hours' notice to his offender management team, unless in the course of normal life, is an onerous condition.
Other
'10 things you should know about the London Bridge attacker and early release'
This afternoon, Labour and Conservative figures took turns to cast blame, each frantically trying to plunge the hands of the other into the victims’ blood before it dried, notwithstanding the pleas of victims’ families not to make political capital out of lost lives... Amid all the shouting and, in the case of the government, outright lying, the truth about how and why Khan was sentenced as he was has barely had a look in. So it is worth taking a quick look at ten things we actually know.