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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
'Andy Malkinson: review body to examine its role in case'
The body which looks into potential miscarriages of justice will review how it handled the case of Andy Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison after his wrongful conviction for rape... It comes as questions are being raised over why Mr Malkinson was not granted an appeal as long ago as 2009. His conviction was only overturned last month after being found guilty in 2004.
The Court of Appeal quashed the 57-year-old's conviction after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) accepted that DNA obtained long ago from the victim's clothing - but never fully and repeatedly tested for matches - pointed to another man. Mr Malkinson had twice applied for his case to be referred for appeal by the CCRC but was turned down. The CCRC announced on Thursday an experienced barrister would lead a review into its role in the case...
'Fresh criticism of Single Justice Procedure'
The daughter of a pensioner with dementia who was fined for not having car insurance as she lay in a care home bed says the justice system added extra pain to the family’s last few months of “hell”. The 78-year-old woman who has schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and dementia, was hospitalised with a broken ankle from a fall in March, and then moved into care. The Evening Standard highlighted this week that, despite her deteriorating health, she was prosecuted by the DVLA for not paying for car insurance. The pensioner was convicted under the single justice procedure, a system which enables magistrates to sentence defendants behind closed doors based on written evidence alone...
Research by the Standard has shown that more than 500 people over 70 were prosecuted by the DVLA in the last months through SJP. In more than half the cases, no plea was received, leaving magistrates to decide whether to convict and issue fines without knowing the personal circumstances. Magistrates Association chief executive Tom Franklin praised the Standard’s coverage of SJP cases. He said that the association had “called for a review of the transparency of that procedure to make sure that it is as good as if cases are heard in open court, and we don’t think they are at the moment”.
'Tens of thousands of grooming crimes recorded in wait for online safety bill'
Tens of thousands of online grooming crimes have been recorded during the wait for updated online safety laws. The online safety bill is expected to become law in the autumn, but has faced a lengthy route to the statute book with repeated changes and delays to the proposed legislation. Ministers have been forced to defend the bill in recent days amid concern from tech companies that it will undermine the use of encryption.
The NSPCC has called on tech firms and MPs to back the bill as it said that 34,000 online grooming crimes had been recorded by UK police forces over the last six years. The charity first called for more robust online safety regulation in 2017. Citing data from 42 UK police forces, the NSPCC said 6,350 offences related to sexual communication with a child were recorded last year, a rise of 82% since the offence was introduced in 2017-18. The data shows that 73% of the crimes involved Snapchat or Meta-linked websites, with 5,500 offences taking place against children of primary school age. Parliament will finish debating the bill when summer recess ends in a few weeks...
'Nurse Lucy Letby found guilty of murdering seven babies on neonatal unit'
A nurse has been found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder others while working on a hospital's neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.
Lucy Letby - who was in her mid-20s and working at the Countess of Chester Hospital at the time of the murders - is now the UK's most prolific child killer of modern times. She was found guilty by a series of partial verdicts, delivered several days apart, with the judge issuing reporting restrictions until the end of the trial. Letby was also found guilty of seven counts of attempted murder... She was also found not guilty of two charges of attempted murder. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on six further counts of attempted murder.
'Government orders independent inquiry following Lucy Letby verdict'
The government has ordered an independent inquiry into the circumstances behind the horrific murders and attempted murders of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, following the guilty verdict in the trial of former neonatal nurse, Lucy Letby.
Launched to ensure vital lessons are learned and to provide answers to the parents and families impacted, the inquiry will investigate the wider circumstances around what happened at the Countess of Chester Hospital, including the handling of concerns and governance. It will also look at what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS. It will ensure the families impacted in this tragic case have the opportunity to engage with the inquiry...
Cases
R v Watson [2023] EWCA Crim 960
...The single judge granted permission to appeal against conviction on the ground that: "The judge failed to give the jury a direction to correct extensive and impermissible prosecution closing comments as to the appellant's failure to call witnesses in support of his defence caused incurable prejudice to his case."...
We have considered his submissions on this issue, although we consider that technically Mr Bajwa should have given notice of the 'amplification of grounds of appeal', in other than his skeleton argument post grant of leave; see as required by Criminal Procedure Rule 36.14 (5). Having done so we conclude that he invites us to ignore the clear precedent established in previous authority and which, variously, have contemplated these same points...
We respectfully agree with the analysis conducted and conclusions reached by Pill LJ in Shakeel Khan (supra). There is no per curiam authority which prohibits appropriate comment regarding the failure of a defendant to call witnesses. Mr Bajwa does not argue that the law has been misapplied or misunderstood, rather that he disagrees with it. We decline to attempt to specify the circumstances in which it would/would not be appropriate to make such comment. As per Lawton LJ in Reg v Sparrow [1973] 1 W.L.R. 488 when commenting upon the 'Bathurst' ([1968] 2 Q.B. 99) direction said at p. 496: "In many cases, a direction in some such terms as these will be all that is required; but we are sure that Lord Parker C.J. never intended his words of guidance to be regarded as a judicial directive to be recited to juries in every case in which a defendant elects not to give evidence. What is said must depend upon the facts of each case and in some cases the interests of justice call for a stronger comment. The trial judge, who has the feel of the case, is the person who must exercise his discretion in this matter to ensure that a trial is fair. A discretion is not to be fettered by laying down rules and regulations for its exercise: … In this sort of matter great care must be taken to avoid the possibility that injustice may be done by leaving the jury under the impression that the failure to call a particular witness is something of importance where in fact there may have been some perfectly good and valid reason why a witness should not be called, which would not bear upon the jury's decision. But, it is impossible to take the view that the failure to call a witness cannot in a proper case be a matter to be taken into account by the jury as a part of the whole of the material upon which they have to decide"...
International
'Trump indictments: A very simple guide to his four big legal cases'
Former President Donald Trump is facing dozens of criminal charges and will go on trial several times in the next 18 months. His legal problems are mounting as he campaigns to become president again in the 2024 election. Here's a guide to what is going on...