News
'Met to review all ongoing rape cases after second trial collapses'
The Metropolitan Police is to review scores of sexual assault cases after potential errors led to the collapse of a second rape case in the space of a week. In the latest case, an alleged child rapist was cleared at court with prosecutors offering no evidence.
After the latest case the Met said: “As a precaution, every live case being investigated by the child abuse and sexual offences command, where the MPS [Metropolitan police service] is in discussion with the Crown Prosecution Service, is being reviewed to ensure that all digital evidence has been properly examined, documented and shared with the CPS to meet obligations under disclosure.”
A helpful blog post discussing these cases and disclosure issues in general can be found here.
Misuse of Lasers
The Government propose to create a new TEW offence of 'shining or directing a laser beam towards a vehicle', carrying a maximum five year sentence. Aircrafts, motor vehicles, pedal cycles, trains, vessels, hovercraft and submarines (!) will all be covered.
The bill can be found here.
New National Economic Crime Centre
The Home Secretary has announced that a new centre within the National Crime Agency will be established, to coordinate the national response to economic crime.
Police Locate Suspects Using Fake Christmas Hamper Offer
Twenty one wanted criminals have been arrested over two days after they were tricked into entering a Christmas hamper offer. Officers from South Yorkshire Police sent a card to a list of wanted people, advising them they had been selected to receive a free hamper and just needed to book a delivery slot. But when the knock on the door came, the recipients were instead arrested and delivered before the courts.
Cases
R v Kay [2017] EWCA Crim 2214
Appeal against a rape conviction allowed after fresh evidence in the form of Facebook messages damaged the complainant's credibility.
[The complainant] deleted a total of 29 separate messages sent and received in February and March 2012 from the record. A comparison between the version of the messages in the exhibit before the jury and the full exchange reveals that the messages deleted were selective. In consequence, a number of significant and misleading impressions were given in the edited trial version.
Although there was a gap in Facebook messages they resumed on 19th March with the applicant asking [the complainant] for her phone number as his phone had deleted it. She immediately provided it ending her message with kisses. These messages were deleted from the version before the jury. Two days later, between 21st and 23rd March, there was another exchange of messages, whose edited version before the jury gave a very misleading context for his message "sorry", which was in fact in response to her asking him why he was ignoring her. Her response, again edited from the jury's version was "Dnt be". In its edited form before the jury, the context was capable of being construed as an apology for something that had happened between them.
The BBC article on the case is here.
R v Rejmanski [2017] EWCA Crim 2061
The extent to which a mental disorder can be relevant to an assessment of "the circumstances of the defendant", when considering the partial defence of loss of control provided by s.54(1) Coroners and Justice Act 2009 ("the CAJA 2009")
R v Parsons [2017] EWCA Crim 2163
The extent to which Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Offences Protection Orders can include:
- Blanket bans on internet access and use.
- Where children are concerned, whether the prohibition should extend to those under 18 or those under 16.
- Risk management monitoring software.
- “Cloud storage”.
- Encryption software.
Other
The Law Commission’s Annual Report
The Law Commission’s Annual Report 2016-17 has been published. The Criminal section starting at page 20 details the Commission's work on: misconduct in public office, search warrants, criminal records disclosures, protection of official data, sentencing code, and firearms.
'We must confront the criminal justice system’s warped attitude to time'
An interesting blog post on time pressures in the criminal justice system.