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
'Police vetting lets in wrong people too often - report'
Hundreds of police officers who should have failed vetting checks may be in the job in England and Wales, a damning report has found. The police watchdog looked at eight forces and found decisions on officers which were "questionable at best". One officer convicted of domestic abuse and one accused of sexual assault were among those accepted. "It's far too easy for the wrong people to get in," said Inspector of Constabulary, Matt Parr. Of 725 sample cases closely examined in the review, there were concerns about 131 officers cleared to serve in police forces - but the watchdog said the true total could be much higher. The report also highlights misogyny and sexual misconduct, and was commissioned after the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer, which raised questions about police recruitment and vetting...
The report can be found here.
'Review of government counter-terror strategy to tackle threats'
The government will carry out a wholesale refresh of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, to protect its citizens from new, emerging and persistent threats. In the UK and overseas, there has been a shift towards self-initiated terrorists operating independently from organised groups with increasingly personal ideologies and warped views used to justify violence. The tactics and methodologies used by terrorists are diversifying and becoming increasingly fragmented. To meet those threats, the counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST) will be updated to reflect these new challenges. This will involve seeking a diverse range of views and engaging security experts from across the UK and overseas, so that CONTEST continues to robustly protect the British public from terrorist threats...
'New powers for forensic science regulator by end of March'
Forensic science witnesses in criminal justice cases can expect to be subject to the Forensic Science Regulator’s statutory regime by the end of March 2023, incumbent regulator Gary Pugh said today. There have been delays in putting the statutory regime in place, but a consultation on a statutory code closed on 31 October. Pugh will now produce a response before finalising the code which will go first to the home secretary, then parliament in what he described as a process that ‘looks streamlined’, he added. Pugh noted he already has the power to launch investigations, but when parliament endorses the code he will be able to issue compliance notices and exercise ‘the ultimate power of prohibition’. On prohibition of experts he said: ‘I hope I never have to go there. It’ll be a sad day if I do.’
'Glencore to pay £280 million for ‘highly corrosive’ and ‘endemic’ corruption'
Glencore Energy UK Ltd will pay £280,965,092.95 million (over 400 million USD) after an SFO investigation revealed it paid US $29 million in bribes to gain preferential access to oil in Africa... Glencore pleaded guilty in June this year to seven counts of bribery, after an SFO investigation exposed that it had paid bribes to maximise its oil trading profits in five African countries. The conviction includes the first ever use of substantive bribery offences for a company, meaning senior individuals at Glencore authorised the bribery instead of simply failing to prevent it. The financial penalty ordered by the Judge includes a fine, a confiscation order for the profit it obtained from bribes, and the SFO’s costs in full. The confiscation order is not only the largest ever for an SFO case, the total amount the company will pay (£280 million) is the highest ever ordered in a corporate criminal conviction.
The sentencing remarks can be found here.
Cases
R v Nguyen [2022] EWCA Crim 1444
There are three grounds of appeal. The principal ground is a challenge to the lawfulness of the immediate custodial sentence imposed on the appellant in the absence of counsel to represent her in court, in circumstances where counsel had refused to attend court in support of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) days of action...
The appellant had received the assistance of her legal representatives, solicitors and counsel, at some time after being found guilty and before being sentenced, because her representatives had filed written submissions on sentence on 6 May 2022. Section 226(3)(i)(a) therefore applied for the purposes of the sentencing hearing. This was the approach of the judge. But consistent with the approach in Wilson, the application of section 226 was not the end of the matter. The appellant had a representation order and she retained the benefit of it, including the right to be represented by her solicitors and counsel, who remained willing to act for her, even if not willing to attend on the day of the sentencing hearing... We would add that though she had been legally represented "at some time after being found guilty and before being sentenced" we do not consider those words were intended by Parliament to deprive someone in the position of the appellant of legal assistance at a critical time. Instead, they were directed to give the court a measure of control in relation to an offender who dispenses with his legal representatives between plea and sentence, and who, but for those words, could impede the administration of justice (the situation referred to in both Kirk and in Wilson)...
The respondent submitted that the problems caused by the voluntary absence of counsel in support of the CBA's dispute with the Ministry of Justice, were unprecedented. We agree. It may also be the case as the respondent also submitted, that there was no obvious legislative mechanism to deal with them, and someone in the appellant's precise position could remain unsentenced for an indeterminate period. Whether that is so or not, the appellant was in no different position to that of someone whose counsel was ill on the day of the hearing or had been delayed by a rail strike; on the facts of her case, it was unlawful to sentence her unless and until, for proper reason, her representation order was revoked or withdrawn...
Other
'Victim stalked for almost 20 years calls sentence an insult'
The Victims Commissioner for London has described the sentence handed down to her stalker of 19 years as "an insult". In October Elliot Fogel, 47, was found guilty for a sixth time of breaching a lifetime restraining order designed to stop him contacting Claire Waxman. He was given a 16-month sentence but was released immediately as he had spent time in custody awaiting trial. The Home Office said it takes its response to stalking "extremely seriously".
In an exclusive interview with BBC Newsnight, Ms Waxman said she was "absolutely shocked" by the punishment and is calling for a review of stalking legislation because she believes it isn't working for victims. She said stalking is a crime of "psychological terror" which is "so invasive to all parts of your life that it changes you as a person".