Issue 253  30th July 2022

A "very damaged man" has been jailed for killing his bedbound grandfather in a knife attack, in the first filmed sentencing in England and Wales. Ben Oliver, 25, stabbed his 74-year-old grandfather to death in Mottingham, south east London, in January 2021. He admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility. He was cleared of murder at the Old Bailey.

Judge Sarah Munro QC made legal history as she handed him a life sentence with a minimum of 10 years and eight months. The arrival of TV cameras at the Old Bailey and other crown courts comes nine years after the move was first promised. The major change in the law, announced on Wednesday, allows broadcasters to film judges sentencing serious criminals. Broadcasting an entire trial will not be permitted...

A rape victim who will have been waiting five years by the time her case comes to court has said navigating the justice process has had a worse impact on her mental health than the crime itself, leaving her feeling “suicidal”. The woman, known as Debbie, recently had her case listed but it was pulled the day before she was due to appear in court. She now faces a further eight-month wait.

She is among thousands of victims, witnesses and defendants affected by the record-high backlog of 58,653 crown court cases in England and Wales, set to further increase this summer amid strikes by barristers. The industrial action, scheduled to resume on 1 August, comes amid calls for “radical action” to support rape victims living in limbo and concerns that a new pilot proposed by the government as part of “efforts to drive up prosecutions and convictions” is a “sticking plaster” that will have little impact.

Rape victims will receive enhanced support at three crown courts – Leeds, Newcastle and Snaresbrook in London – in a pilot scheme aimed at “supporting victims, tacking the backlog and reducing delays”. The courtrooms, which will continue to hear other cases, will be equipped with video technology allowing pre-recorded evidence of rape survivors to be shown, sparing victims the trauma of attending in person. Court staff, police and prosecutors will receive specialist trauma training as part of the pilot to roll out in October. But London victims’ commissioner Claire Waxman has questioned how effective the initiative will be...

More than 100 sitting days were lost in Crown courts in the first six months of this year due to ongoing repair work, the Gazette has learned – and £35m worth of running repairs is now outstanding across the estate. Figures revealed in response to a freedom of information request show that 111 days were lost up to the end of June. The Ministry of Justice said that Hereford Crown Court, which has been closed since June 2020 after the roof collapsed, is the only building to have been shut because of unplanned works.

In total, 78 of the 84 Crown court buildings within the HMCTS estate have a repair request that has yet to be completed. The average cost of outstanding repairs at each court building is around £455,000, meaning that £35m worth of repairs are waiting to be carried out across England and Wales...

The Sentencing Council has published updated sentencing guidelines for terrorism offences in England and Wales following consultation. The new guidelines, which will come into effect on 1 October 2022, update the current guidelines published in 2018 to reflect changes brought in by the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 and the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021.

The guidelines include:

• new guidance for judges sentencing offenders who meet the criteria for a ‘serious terrorism sentence’. This is a new type of sentence that carries a minimum penalty of 14 years’ custody unless exceptional circumstances apply; and
• new guidance and principles for judges to follow when considering whether there may be exceptional circumstances that justify a departure from that sentence.

Nine in ten cases of bike theft and almost all those of theft from a vehicle were closed last year without a suspect having been identified, official figures have revealed. A total of almost two million cases were closed by the police in the past year without a culprit having been identified.

The figure represents 40 per cent of all crimes that were assigned an outcome by police forces in England and Wales between April 2021 and March. They were recorded as “investigation complete — no suspect identified”, according to an analysis of official figures by the Liberal Democrats. More than a million thefts and at least 300,000 violent crimes were closed without a suspect having been identified...

Liz Truss wants to impose targets on police to cut murders by one fifth if she becomes prime minister under a policy lambasted as “incoherent”. The Tory leadership candidate told forces she would expect them to cut homicide, serious violence and “neighbourhood crime” by 20 per cent before the next general election...

Industrial action planned for 29 July, 2, 3 and 4 August has been suspended following an improved pay offer for OCS workers on the HM Courts and Tribunals Service contract that will now be put to members in a ballot...

PCS national officer Andrew Lloyd said: ‘’The improved pay offer is a significant win for our members, their heroic efforts to keep the courts operational during Covid deserve recognition. They have sent the strongest possible message to OCS that they are prepared to fight, have returned the biggest ever ballot mandate on the contract and have demonstrated stout strength and resolve in the face of adversity. Our industrial strength on the contract demonstrates we will win on every issue our members campaign on.” PCS will now arrange the membership ballot on the offer.