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
'Four murder accused to be released on bail amid legal aid strikes'
Four people accused of murder are to be released on bail after a judge refused to extend the time they could be kept in custody pending trial. The trial, for the fatal stabbing of 40-year-old Keith Green in February, could not go ahead as planned on Tuesday because of the indefinite strike by criminal barristers over legal aid fees. Judge Ian Pringle, the recorder of Oxford, was asked to extend the period the accused could be held on remand beyond the six-month limit, which expires at midnight on Thursday, but refused to do so...
'Victims’ Commissioner quits with damning letter to government'
The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales has quit her post with a damning letter warning that the “criminal justice system is in chaos”. The government asked Dame Vera Baird KC to extend her tenure until the end of this year after it delayed the recruitment of her successor by restarting the process in August...
On Friday, she announced that she would be leaving her post on 30 September, and a replacement will not be in place until next year. In a letter to the new justice secretary Brandon Lewis, Dame Vera accused the government of “downgrading of victims’ interests” and “side-lining” her office...
'Killer is first inmate to face public Parole Board hearing'
A man who murdered his wife 37 years ago will become the first prisoner to have a public Parole Board hearing, under rules designed to boost transparency and confidence in decision-making. Caroline Corby, the chair of the Parole Board of England and Wales, said on Tuesday the next hearing to consider whether Russell Causley, 79, should be released would be open to the public, after a rule change that took effect from 21 July.
Causley is serving a life sentence for the 1985 murder of his wife, Carole Packman. He has never revealed the whereabouts of her body. Causley was freed from prison in 2020 after serving more than 23 years for the murder, but he was returned to jail in November last year after breaching his licence conditions. His grandson Neil Gillingham was among those who applied for the hearing to take place in public. His arguments include that there is a legitimate public interest in seeing how the requirement for the board to take account of lack of cooperation by a killer, known as Helen’s law, works in practice...
'Magistrates handing out convictions in private court hearings that last just 90 seconds'
Magistrates are handing out criminal convictions in private court hearings lasting as little as 90 seconds, in a system where the majority of prosecutions will never be looked at by a qualified lawyer, the Evening Standard has learned. The Single Justice Procedure (SJP) was established to allow courts to sit behind-closed-doors, issuing fines and convictions in a system that was designed for speedy justice. However evidence has emerged of magistrates dispensing justice in alarmingly short hearings, with some lasting just a matter of seconds...
Courts in Lavender Hill in southwest London and Leamington Spa in Warwickshire were set a “recommended 90-second baseline”, as magistrates sat alone to analyse evidence, decided whether to convict or not, and sentence defendants. When London magistrates averaged two-and-a-half minutes per case compared with the “expected 90 seconds”, the author of the report reassured HMCTS bosses they “would expect to see higher levels of productivity” when courts become “more experience(d) with the new process”...
'Met Police failing in areas of its work, inspectors say'
The Met is "failing" in several areas of its work, according to the police inspectorate, which has raised "serious concerns" over the force's performance. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said the Metropolitan Police must make "urgent improvements". It follows a series of scandals that have engulfed Scotland Yard.
However, the report described "many successes" at the Met Police, which it said was good at preventing crime. The force said it was "committed to making changes to address all of the issues that the report highlights". HMICFRS graded the Met's performance in the way it responds to the public as "inadequate", while finding it "requires improvement" in areas such as investigating crime, protecting vulnerable people and managing offenders.
The report can be read here.
Cases
R v Kadir [2022] EWCA Crim 1244
Can a judge presiding over a criminal trial in the Crown Court permit a witness who is outside the United Kingdom to give evidence via WhatsApp? That is one of the questions raised by this appeal, brought by leave of the full court against convictions of offences of rape, attempted rape and indecent assault...
To answer the question identified in paragraph 1 of this judgment, under the temporary provisions of s51 of CJA 2003 in force at the material time the judge did have the power to direct that Samad could give evidence from Bangladesh via WhatsApp, if satisfied that it was in the interests of justice for her to do so. WhatsApp was capable of being an "other arrangement" which could meet the definition of a live video link in s56(2D) of CJA 2003. Given that it uses end-to-end encryption, it was capable of being regarded as sufficiently secure for use, in particular in the context of giving evidence in open court. We would add that a judge in similar circumstances today would similarly have the power to direct a live link via WhatsApp under the statutory provisions which are now in force, though it would of course be for the judge concerned to make a fact-specific decision in the circumstances of the particular case. If and insofar as the enquiries which the judge made led her to believe she lacked such a power, then she was misinformed...
R v Wood [2022] EWCA Crim 1243
... The appeal raises an issue about the application of section 22 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ["the Act" or "POCA"]. Put simply, the question is whether the section applies in circumstances where (a) either new assets have been identified or an asset that was included in the original calculation of the available amount has become more valuable, but (b) the value attributable to the newly identified or revalued assets (determined by performing a "new calculation" pursuant to section 22(3)) does not exceed the "relevant amount" determined in accordance with section 22(8) of the Act i.e. the amount found as the available amount for the purposes of the original confiscation order...
In our judgment, HHJ Kelleher reached the right conclusion. As we shall explain, resolution of the issue depends upon what is meant by the words "new calculation" in section 22. As will be clear from our initial formulation of the issue at [2] above, it is the Appellant's case that when performing a "new calculation" under section 22 only the current value of the defendant's retained assets that have been revalued and those that are newly acquired or identified are to be taken into account. In our judgment, that is where the flaw in the Appellant's case lies, and it is fundamental...
... It follows from the reasoning we have just set out that Ground 1 fails for reasons that are essentially the same as those identified more succinctly by the Judge below. In our judgment, and subject to Grounds 2 and 3 below, he was correct to conclude that the result of the "new calculation" was not merely the increment of £311,891.26 attributable to the four properties currently held but £922,456.20 achieved by adding the increment to the recoverable amount under the Original Confiscation Order of £610,564.94...