Issue 206  14th August 2021

We have published new sentencing guidelines for sentencing offenders convicted of modern slavery offences in England and Wales, following consultation. The new guidelines will give judges and magistrates dedicated guidelines to follow when sentencing offenders guilty of offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, and trafficking for the purposes of exploitation.

Middle-class drug users need to “connect themselves with the violence” of the drugs trade, the policing minister has said. Kit Malthouse said that a new government strategy to crack down on illegal drug use will target recreational users to “illustrate the impact” of their demand for Class A substances, such as cocaine, LSD and ecstasy. The strategy to be published in the autumn will seek to change the “perceived acceptability” of taking drugs.

A new offence of “pet abduction” is being drawn up to tackle a rise in dognapping since the start of the first lockdown last year. This is the primary recommendation from the government’s pet theft task force, which was launched following soaring cases of stolen pets. As demand for pets grew with people forced to spend more time at home during the pandemic, the cost of dogs and cats rose sharply, and soon organised crime groups were coordinating pet thefts to exploit the inflated prices.

Ministers were thought to be considering incorporating a new offence of pet theft into the existing theft act, but rejected the idea after concluding that animals shouldn’t be valued in the same way as property, and that the existing offence was inadequate for prosecuting pet thieves. Government sources say the new offence would acknowledge the “sentience of animals” and, factoring in the loss to the owner along with the welfare of the animal, would carry tougher sentences.

The Ministry of Justice has denied claims that lawyers will be forced to attend Crown court trials at the weekend following the publication of an open letter from members of the profession threatening boycotts of extended sitting hours. A spokesperson for HM Courts & Tribunals Service spokesperson said the petition is ‘based on year-old information’ which was superseded by new plans published this month. ‘Under these plans there is no proposal to mandate Crown court trials on weekends, and any decision to extend the operating hours of a court would be for its independent resident judge.’

A document setting out ‘temporary operating arrangements’ proposes two models that would run alongside normal operating hours in the other courtrooms. One is a ‘blended model’ which would involve running two separate jury trials listed in one courtroom: one from 9am to 1pm and one from 2pm to 6pm. The second is a ‘remote model’, under which sessions would be held online outside the hours of 9am-5pm. These sessions would consist of non-trial work, such as pre-trial preparation hearings, mentions, and sentencing. HMCTS has not specified whether such non-trial work could be scheduled on weekends.