News
Disclosure Issues Stop Rape Trial
Scotland Yard is conducting an “urgent review” after a rape trial collapsed owing to what the prosecuting barrister on the case called “the most appalling failure of disclosure” he had encountered.
The proceedings against Liam Allan, 22, were halted at Croydon crown court on Thursday after it emerged that police had belatedly disclosed phone messages between the complainant and her friends that threw the case into doubt.
A detailed and informative blog post on the issue can be read here.
Section 41 Review
A review into the law on the admissibility of sexual history evidence has been published by the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General's Office.
We are now confident that the introduction of sexual history evidence by the defence is exceptional. The data provided by the CPS audit of rape case files demonstrates that this is very rarely permitted: in just 8% of cases a section 41 application was granted. Moreover, defence counsel are not routinely making section 41 applications: they were made in only 13% of cases.
The findings appear to rebut suggestions made earlier in the year that section 41 restrictions were often bypassed (see here and here).
'Surgeon admits marking his initials on patients' livers during transplant ops'
A surgeon has admitted burning his initials into the livers of two transplant patients with a laser beam.
Consultant Simon Bramhall, 53, branded "SB" on the organs of a man and a woman undergoing transplant operations.
On Wednesday, he admitted two counts of assault by beating at Birmingham Crown Court but pleaded not guilty to alternative charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Cases
R v Naz [2017] EWCA Crim 482
We consider also that the judge on occasions wrongly descended into the arena and abandoned the neutral role of a judge. What he did went beyond the bounds of permitted judicial intervention designed to control counsel and manage the case effectively. What occurred had the unfortunate effect of depriving the Appellant of the opportunity to present her case, unlikely or not, in its best light when she came to give her evidence.
Obscurity
Venison from a Poached Deer
Buying or selling venison from a poached deer is contrary to section 10 of the Deer Act 1991, but only if the buyer/seller knows or has reason to believe that it was poached.