Issue 159

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

'Latest court sites listed to resume jury trials'

Following rigorous health and safety assessments, two crown court sites are listed to resume jury trials. St Albans and Birmingham Annex are scheduled to resume on Monday 14 September 2020. This will bring the total number of court sites to 72.

Custody Time Limits Extended

Under temporary legislation announced today, the period of time that offenders can be held before a trial – known as the Custody Time Limit - will be increased from 182 days to 238 days...

The legislation is expected to come into force on 28th September and will apply to anyone who is arrested and remanded for an offence deemed serious enough for a Crown Court trial after that date. The new custody time limits will remain in place for nine months. After which, current time lengths will resume.

'MoJ's judicial critic complains of improper and undue pressure'

On Tuesday Judge Keith Raynor, sitting at Woolwich crown court, refused to extend the time that a teenager charged with drugs offences could be held in custody before his trial, and lambasted the Ministry of Justice’s measures to deal with the growing backlog of criminal cases.

In an email to barristers and journalists in the early hours of this morning, the judge alleged that he had felt 'pressurised' to extend the custody time limit in the case.

Criminal Courts Backlog

Combined outstanding cases in the magistrates and Crown courts surged 500,000 over the summer, new figures show, but there are signs that the system is slowing starting to perform better.

Raw data published by HM Courts & Tribunal Service show that by 23 August there were 46,467 outstanding cases in the Crown court in England and Wales and 517,782 cases in the magistrates’ court. Since 15 March, the last week before lockdown, the backlog had increased by 16% in the Crown court and by 31% in the magistrates’ court. As of the start of July this year, the number of outstanding Crown court cases had increased year-on-year by 29%, and in the magistrates’ court by 48%.

'Three new benzodiazepines to become Class C drugs'

Flualprazolam, flunitrazolam and norfludiazepam will be controlled as Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and placed in Schedule 1 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, following a recommendation from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).

Benzodiazepines are sedative and anti-anxiety drugs that are used clinically for the treatment of anxiety, insomnia, muscle spasms and epilepsy. They can be misused in a number of ways, and are often taken with other illicit drugs to increase their effects, combat the effect of opioid withdrawal or to ease the after effects of stimulant use.

Furlough Fraud

Up to £3.5bn in Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme payments may have been claimed fraudulently or paid out in error, the government has said. HM Revenue and Customs told MPs on the Public Accounts Committee it estimates that 5-10% of furlough cash has been wrongly awarded.

Cases

R v Cadamartriea [2019] EWCA Crim 1736

At the end of the cross examination the judge requested Mr Roberts to re-examine in order to clarify what the appellant's defence now was. In re-examination the appellant said that the stabbing was accidental. When Mr Marsh came towards him, he put his hands up automatically and the knife went into him accidentally. He said that he was simply defending himself. He said also that he did not intend to harm Mr Marsh, but only to frighten him. Thus three defences were suggested, accident, self defence and lack of intent, none of which had been foreshadowed in the Defence Statement or in the earlier conduct of the trial, and each of which at one point or another had been expressly contradicted by the appellant's own evidence...

This led to a waiver of privilege by the appellant, as a result of which we have a full and detailed explanation from Mr Roberts and Ms Jenkins of the circumstances which led to their withdrawal. In summary, they explained that when they saw the appellant after he had given evidence, he confirmed that he wanted them to make a case for self defence, accident and lack of intention which they regarded as being in direct contradiction of the instructions which he had previously given, on the basis of which they had prepared and presented his case at the trial. It was their judgment that to do so would mislead the court and would require them to devise facts or submissions which were not based on evidence elicited by them in support of the case, and accordingly that they were required to withdraw. It is apparent that their view was that if the appellant had done no more than give evidence in cross examination which contradicted his previous instructions, that would not have caused an insurmountable problem, but that the position was insurmountable because they had themselves elicited such evidence in re-examination and the appellant had confirmed that he wanted them to run accident, self defence and lack of intention in the closing speech...

There is now no issue whether Mr Roberts and Ms Jenkins were entitled to withdraw. It is accepted that they were. In any event this was a matter for their professional judgment and not for the court (Williams (Derron Anthony) at [54] and Ulcay at [28])...

Other

'Introducing screen solutions at Leeds Crown Court'

During the summer, His Honour Judge Kearl QC was chair of a small working group tasked with looking at the use of buildings outside the current court estate to alleviate the pressure on courts and tribunals due to the Coronavirus pandemic; these are now known as Nightingale Courts. The group worked with architects at the University of Lincoln School of Architecture to produce a report on how alternative buildings could be used as courts, which they presented to the Lord Chief Justice in May 2020. While working on the report, HHJ Kearl was also thinking about how this solution could work in his court room at Leeds Crown Court (LCC).

Obscurity

Causing an Animal to Be Propelled Along the Bank of a Main River

It is an offence contrary to paragraph 11 of The Anglian Water Authority Land Drainage and Sea Defence Byelaws to, without the written consent of the Authority, ride, drive or cause or permit to be ridden, driven or otherwise propelled any animal or vehicle of any description whatsoever over, along or adjacent to any bank or any main river, drainage work, river control, bridge or culvert vested in or under the control of the Authority in such a manner as to cause damage to such bank, drainage work, river control work, bridge or culvert; or to submit such banks, structures and defences to a greater weight than may from time to time be prescribed by the Authority (to be indicated by notice on such bank, drainage work, river control work, bridge or culvert or any road leading thereto) as the traffic weight of such bank, drainage work, river control work, bridge or culvert PROVIDED THAT this Byelaw shall not apply to a bank, drainage work, river control work, bridge or culvert carrying a highway maintainable at the public expense.

Issue 159 12th September 2020