Issue 208  28th August 2021

The use of Tasers by police risks losing its legitimacy in the eyes of the public if community concerns are not addressed through improvements to national guidance, training and scrutiny of Taser use the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) warned today. The warning follows this publication of a review of 101 independent investigations carried out by the IOPC between 2015 and 2020 which involved a Taser being used.

The review looked at existing data and research, and considered the views of a range of community groups and other stakeholders. The report makes 17 recommendations – to the College of Policing, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and the Home Office – seeking improvements to national guidance and training; scrutiny and monitoring of Taser use; and data and research.

A lack of funding for rural youth work in England is leaving young people exposed to the dangers of county lines drug-dealing gangs, it is claimed. The amount spent per head on youth work for 11- to 19-year-olds in rural England, £47, is 25% less than in urban areas, and half the level a decade ago...

County-lines gangs often use vulnerable children to help them bring illegal drugs into areas across the UK - and move money out. The National Youth Agency said it had seen an "increasing trend" for young people in county towns and rural areas to be targeted. Youth workers were vital in protecting those at risk by providing a known and trusted adult, chief executive Leigh Middleton told BBC News. But, he added: "As local authority budgets have shrunk, [resources have] gone to our towns and cities."

New statistics for 2020 (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 149KB) show 61 offenders had their sentences increased, after the Attorney General and Solicitor General (the Law Officers) challenged their sentences because they thought they were too low...

The Law Officers received 552 applications for sentences to be reviewed which met the necessary criteria to be considered under the Scheme. Of these, 97 were referred to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal agreed that 61 sentences were too low, and as a result 61 offenders had their sentences increased. 5 people were imprisoned after avoiding prison time at their original sentencing. In a further 16 cases, the Court of Appeal agreed that it was right to ask for the sentence to be reviewed (known as ‘granting leave’) but these sentences were not ultimately increased.

Britons could be fined up to £2,500 by computer without human involvement under government plans to move justice online. Ministers are proposing that people accused of minor crimes should be able to indicate a plea online with an option to have their conviction confirmed and punishment decided by computer.

Minor motoring offences, such as failure to pay congestion charges, are currently handled in such a way but generally only result in fines of £100 to £200. A Bill laid in Parliament just before the recess paves the way for online convictions to be widened so that they could include offences such as fare evasion, TV licence fee non-payment, breaches of Covid rules, careless driving and failing to send a child to school, which carry fines of up to £2,500.

An equal number of male and female full-time judges now sit at the historic criminal court in central London including three mothers with school-age children. Lead Old Bailey Judge Mark Lucraft QC said it was a “significant step in the right direction” but added more could be done on ethnic diversity.