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
'Cut jury size to clear courts backlog - Labour'
Labour is calling for juries to be cut from 12 members to seven, to stem the "gravest crisis" in the justice system since World War Two. Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said action was needed to clear the backlog of thousands of cases. He argued that smaller juries and the use of more temporary courts would allow socially distanced trials. The government has not ruled out such a move but insists measures it is taking to clear the backlog are working.
'Expert and Advisory Panel appointed for the Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid'
A panel of experts has been appointed to support Sir Christopher Bellamy QC (Chair) in examining the long-term sustainability of the criminal legal aid system.
The Expert and Advisory Panel, appointed by the Lord Chancellor, will provide support by testing and challenging the review’s emerging findings and recommendations. Sir Christopher, who was appointed by the Lord Chancellor on 21 December 2020 will chair monthly meetings of the expert and advisory panel, beginning in February. Sir Christopher will submit his recommendations to the Lord Chancellor later this year and it is intended that the report will be published by the end of this year alongside the government’s response.
'RSPCA plans to stop taking animal abusers to court privately'
For nearly two centuries, the RSPCA has pursued private prosecutions against people it suspects of cruelty to animals. Now, under pressure from MPs, it has said it plans to end that practice and turn over its files to the Crown Prosecution Service instead. According to plans released on Thursday as part of a new 10-year plan, the charity is seeking an agreement to cede control of the prosecution process, though it would carry on investigating cases in England and Wales... One of the principal motivations, the RSPCA said, was the increasing complexity of the cases it is seeing, with many now involving organised criminal enterprises.
New Drug Offences Sentencing Guidelines From 1 April 2021
The Sentencing Council has today published revised sentencing guidelines for sentencing offenders convicted of drugs to respond to the changing nature of offending following consultation... The new guidelines, which will come into effect on 1 April 2021, update the guidelines published in 2012 and apply to adult offenders... The new guidelines will provide, judges and magistrates in England and Wales with updated sentencing guidelines for offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) 1971 to reflect modern drug offending and new guidelines for offences created by the Psychoactive Substances Act (PSA) 2016 to bring clarity and transparency around the sentencing process for drug offences.
The guidelines can be found here.
'Magistrates' courts to be sprayed with antiviral mist'
A range of new Covid measures are to be introduced at magistrates’ courts, as lawyers continue to flag ‘daily failings’ in safety standards. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is to pilot a technique called ‘misting’ at around 60 magistrates’ courts nationwide, with a focus on London. This involves spraying surfaces with an antiviral disinfectant which settles and purportedly safeguards a single room for up to 28 days. The courts service said this will allow more people to use custody suites without compromising their safety. Spraying is expected to begin on Wednesday at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court and the technique could be rolled out more widely if the pilot is successful. Transport for London currently uses misting to disinfect its tube carriages.
Cases
R v Thacker & Ors [2021] EWCA Crim 97
On 28 March 2017 the Home Office chartered a Boeing 767 in order to remove or deport some 60 individuals to West Africa. That evening the 15 appellants breached the security perimeter fence at London Stansted Airport and entered the restricted area. They were intent on halting the flight by various means including erecting makeshift tripods using scaffolding poles and "locking on" to one another around the base of one of the tripods and around the nose of the plane... On 10 December 2018, after a trial which lasted 41 days, the appellants were convicted in the Crown Court at Chelmsford (HHJ Morgan sitting with a jury) of the offence of "intentional disruption of services at an aerodrome", contrary to section 1(2)(b) of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990 ("the 1990 Act"), an offence which requires the consent of the Attorney General to prosecute...
"Likely to endanger" does not entail an examination of what might have happened had the appellants behaved differently but it does entail consideration being given to what might have ensued because of what they did. However, the creation of a risk to safety, however low, is not enough. This offence requires proof of likely endangerment to safety and that introduces two further qualifications. The first is that the chances of the danger arising must transcend a certain degree of likelihood and the second is that it must be of a sufficient nature and degree to amount to endangerment, i.e. to something that may properly be described as a peril. The test is a composite one. In our judgment, the available evidence fell well short of meeting it, for two reasons...
Both the Crown's case and the summing-up collapsed the distinction between risk and likely danger and treated the offence as if it were akin to a health and safety provision. Taking the Crown's case at its highest, and considering all relevant potential consequences, it could not be established to the criminal standard that the actions of the appellants created disruption to the services of Stansted airport which was likely to endanger its safe operation or the safety of persons there...
If, as we have held, it was necessary for the Crown to go further than prove disruption to this particular flight, the judge did not leave to the jury the issue of whether each of the appellants intended (1) to disrupt the services of the aerodrome, and (2) by such disruption, some likely endangerment to the safe operation of Stansted airport and the safety of persons there. The jury should have been directed that, given that it was not the appellants' aim or purpose to cause disruption etc., they had to be satisfied so that they were sure that this consequence was a virtual certainty, or at the least very highly probable, and that each appellant appreciated that was the case...
Other
Coronavirus Act Live Links in Magistrates’ Courts
A guide issued by the Chief Magistrate on the availability of live links in magistrates’ courts under their criminal and civil jurisdiction (while Coronavirus Act 2020 is in force).
Sponsored
Crime QRH (Quick Reference Handbook) - Recently Updated
Recent updates: app refreshed to reflect the new Sentencing Code
Crime QRH is an easy to use guide to criminal offences in England and Wales for use by criminal lawyers and court advocates. It's a searchable database of offences, providing quick access to key details:
- maximum sentence
- class of offence (including grave crimes)
- sentencing guidelines
- statutory provision
- statutory alternative offences
- page references to Archbold and Blackstones
- mandatory minimum sentences
- dangerousness provisions
- obligatory/discretionary driving disqualifications and endorsements
- availability of SHPOs, SCPOs, Unduly Lenient Sentence referrals, SOA Notification Requirements, and POCA