Issue 160  19th September 2020

'Latest court sites listed to resume jury trials'

Following rigorous health and safety assessments, two crown court sites are listed to resume jury trials. Lincoln 21 September 2020 and Stoke-on-Trent 24 September 2020 are scheduled to resume. This will bring the total number of courts to 74. Jury trials will also start from next week in the following additional location, Brighton Magistrates’ Court.

'Radical sentencing overhaul to cut crime'

Sweeping reforms included in a landmark White Paper will see sexual and violent offenders serve longer jail time, while new measures aim to tackle the underlying causes of criminal behaviour and improve the rehabilitation and supervision of offenders in the community.

The measures seek to protect the public and deliver on the Government’s pledge to restore faith in the justice system. They include:

• Whole life Orders for child killers, as well as allowing judges to hand out this maximum punishment to 18-20-year olds in exceptional cases to reflect the gravity of a crime. For example, acts of terrorism which lead to mass loss of life.
• New powers to halt the automatic release of offenders who pose a terrorist threat or are a danger to the public.
• Reducing the opportunities for over 18s who committed murder as a child, to have their minimum term reviewed – ensuring they cannot game the system and torment victims’ families further.
• Ending the halfway release of offenders sentenced to between four and seven years in prison for serious crimes such as rape, manslaughter and GBH with intent. Instead they will have to spend two-thirds of their time behind bars.
• Increasing the starting point for determining sentences for 15-17 year olds who commit murder from a minimum of 12 years to two thirds of the equivalent starting point for adults. It will ensure that the seriousness of the offence is taken into account and there is less of a gap between older children and young adults.
• Longer tariffs for discretionary life sentences. Increasing the minimum period that must be spent in prison by requiring judges to base their calculation of the tariff on what two-thirds of an equivalent determinate sentence would be, rather than half as they do now. This will mean life sentence prisoners serve longer in prison before they can be considered for release by the Parole Board.
• Raising the threshold for passing a sentence below the minimum term for repeat offenders, including key serious offences such as “third strike” burglary which carries a minimum three-year custodial sentence and “two strike” knife possession which has a minimum six-month sentence for adults. Making it less likely that a court will depart from theses minimum terms.
• Piloting Problem Solving Court models in up to five courts, targeted at repeat offenders who would otherwise have been sent to custody.
• Making full use of tagging technologies to create a tough restrictive order in the community.
• Piloting new ways of delivering timely and high-quality Pre-Sentence Reports. Launching a national ‘Call for Evidence’ to obtain a clearer picture of how the justice system supports offenders with neuro-divergent conditions such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia.
• Reforming criminal records disclosure to reduce the time period in which offenders have to declare offences to employers.
• New legislation to introduce life sentences for killer drivers
• Doubling the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker from 12 months to 2 years

Consultation on Serious Violence Reduction Orders

SVROs would empower the police to stop and challenge those who are known to carry knives. They will help to keep communities safer by giving officers a tool to help tackle the most dangerous offenders. The government hopes that they will also help the police more effectively target their approach.

We are consulting on the design of SVROs and welcome views on how we can ensure these important tools are used appropriately. Anyone with an interest in this important issue is invited to contribute, including those involved in law enforcement, victims of knife crime and their families.

The consultation closes at 11:45pm on 8 November 2020.

'Custody limits: judge risked appearance of bias, court told'

A High Court judge was told this morning that she risked appearing biased if she heard an application to extend the custody time limit on a man accused of attempted murder... Mrs Justice Whipple had been drafted in to to hear the application for an extension after it was removed from the trial judge at Woolwich crown court on the instruction of the senior presiding judge, Lady Justice Thirwall. She allowed the application to extend the custody time limit and refused a subsequent defence bail application.

Earlier, Sarah Forshaw QC asked Mrs Justice Whipple to disqualify herself from hearing the application because it would give the 'appearance of bias'. She told the court that the 'only reasonable inference' was that Mrs Justice Whipple had 'been drafted in at the eleventh hour' because the senior judiciary had become concerned about two previous refusals to extend custody time limits by Judge Keith Raynor sitting at Woolwich.

Extinction Rebellion Going Floppy

One of Britain’s most senior police officers has launched an angry tirade against Extinction Rebellion protesters going “all floppy” when they get arrested. Sir Stephen House, the deputy commissioner of the Met police, said the tactic of going limp was a “flipping nuisance” as it required extra officers to drag protesters away.

House told a London assembly police and crime committee hearing: “We have asked them to stop being floppy. And that might seem like a silly thing to say, but when we arrest them and pick them up, they go all floppy, which is why you see four or five officers carrying them away. It’s a complete waste of officers’ time, and a complete pain in the neck.” House also expressed annoyance at how the tactic made the police look heavy-handed. He said: “The problem with them going floppy and four offices carrying them away looks to the general public like police are overreacting here. We’re not making them go floppy. They’re just sort of being a nuisance.”

'Magistrate numbers worse than thought due to HR error'

Magistrate numbers are worse than was previously thought after an HR error resulted in a total being overstated by as much as 1,000. Judicial diversity data published by the Ministry of Justice yesterday shows there are 13,177 magistrates in England and Wales. In April 2008, there were 29,419 magistrates. However, a user guide on the statistics says previous total figures were overstated by as much as 1,000 ‘as a number of leavers had not been correctly removed from the HR system’. The error was discovered as a result of a data reconciliation exercise carried out this year.