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
'Prime Minister launches new clamp down on criminal and violent disorder'
Criminals intent on causing violence and unrest on our streets will be stopped in their tracks thanks to a new National Violent Disorder Programme, the Prime Minister has announced today. At a meeting of police chiefs in Downing Street this afternoon, he offered his clear backing to forces up and down the country - pledging that the government will work in direct partnership with them to stamp out the violent disorder seen in recent weeks.
Following the meeting, he has announced the immediate creation of the new programme, which will bring together the best policing capabilities from across the country to share intelligence on the activity of violent groups so the authorities can swiftly intervene to arrest them. Local insight and data will be used to gain a national understanding of where these criminals are operating, including the British Transport Police alerting where they see a spike in train ticket sales that could be linked to organised violent disorder. It will also consider how we can deploy facial recognition technology, which is already used by some forces, more widely across the country. This will mean criminals can be targeted, found and brought to justice quickly...
'Heinous killers banned from marrying in prison'
Prisoners serving whole life orders – which means they will never be released – will now be automatically blocked from getting married or entering a civil partnership after the new Lord Chancellor signed a measure in the Victims and Prisoners Act into law. This will deny the most heinous criminals from enjoying the important life events they callously took from their victims, while preventing families from the trauma of seeing them getting married or entering civil partnerships...
Prior to these new laws coming into force, these prisoners could make a formal application for marriage or a civil partnership and could only be refused by a prison Governor on the grounds of security concerns. The measure is part of the Victims and Prisoners Act which strengthens oversight of how criminal justice agencies treat victims and enshrines the principles of the Victims’ Code into law. The Lord Chancellor will retain the right to permit ceremonies in the most exceptional circumstances...
'Justice ministers urged by Senior Salaries Review Body to increase judicial salaries by 6%'
Judges should get an above-inflation 6% pay increase in a bid to address the recruitment crisis leaving gaps across the board. That was the recommendation of the Senior Salaries Review Body, which advises the government on public sector pay and which published its annual report yesterday. The independent body reported ‘significant and persistent’ problems in filling some judicial vacancies which have got worse in the last year. In the last district (civil) judge recruitment campaign, just 49 out of 100 vacancies were filled, while even where the last drive to take on circuit bench judges was successful, the ‘quality’ of applicants is in ‘long-term decline’. While pay is not the only factor affecting recruitment, the SSRB said a 6% increase across all judicial role should have a positive effect. It was careful to stress that the blanket increase recommendation was not a sign that salaries levels are set correctly, with more evidence needed to provide specific proposals for each judicial role...
Cases
R v AMF [2024] EWCA Crim 899
... The prosecution was given time to consider the position. The following Monday was a bank holiday, so the court did not sit. On Tuesday 7 May 2024 the prosecution by email informed the court that the prosecution intended to appeal against the ruling, pursuant to section 58 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. An undertaking as to acquittal was given. The jury were discharged from giving any verdicts. There was no application for expedition of the appeal...
... The judge's ruling concluded at about 12.30 p.m. on 3 May 2024. Whatever the outcome of the appeal, there were two complainants who had given evidence. Whatever the outcome of the appeal, the discharge of the jury meant that there would have to be a retrial. It appears that no investigation was carried out as to whether it might be possible to retain that jury. That would have avoided requiring the first two complainants to give evidence again. In the event of a successful appeal, VV would have completed his evidence. No suggestion was made to the prosecution that it would have been to everyone's benefit for a decision to be made on the same day as the ruling. This court is well capable of accommodating this kind of appeal at very short notice should the need arise. In this case there is a good prospect that, had the jury indicated a willingness to sit after a delay of a week or thereabouts, the appeal could have been disposed of within that timescale. There was and is nothing complicated about this case. We urge prosecutors faced with a factual and evidential position such as arose here to give proper consideration to seeking expedition...
Pursuant to Criminal Procedural Rule 38.3(2)(b) the prosecution were required to serve an Appeal Notice no later than five business days from 7 May 2024 on the Crown Court, the Registrar and the defence. The fifth business day was 14 May 2024. No Notice of Appeal was served on that day. It was not until nearly midnight on Friday 24 May 2024 that the Form NG prescribed by the court as the Appeal Notice was emailed to the Criminal Appeal Office and the solicitors acting for the defence. By reference to Criminal Procedure Rule 4.1(1) that means that the effective date of service was Tuesday 28 May 2024 (Monday 27 May 2024 was a bank holiday)...
In our view there is no satisfactory explanation of why there was a delay of eight days in serving the Appeal Notice. Whilst there remains a discretion to extend time in an appropriate case, the court requires some reasonable explanation of why the delay occurred. Here we have none... The right of the prosecution to appeal a ruling by a trial judge is an incursion into the finality of the trial process in the Crown Court. Prior to 2003 it did not exist. The time limits relating to such appeals are very short in comparison to time limits in almost all other contexts within the criminal process. That is deliberate. If a defendant believes they have been acquitted by reason of the ruling of a trial judge, the prosecution must act quickly if they wish to challenge the acquittal...
Other
'In depth: APPEAL calls for research into jury verdicts'
Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, and Winston Trew, who was convicted in 1972 of attempted theft and assault, both appear on the cover of APPEAL’s report Doubt Dismissed: Race, Juries and Wrongful Conviction... The campaign body’s report explores why a centuries-old jury system that required juries to reach a collective agreement was replaced in 1967 with a system that allowed majority verdicts...
The report concludes that:
- the principle of jury unanimity to be reinstated.
- Section 8 of the Contempt of Court Act should be amended to allow official research of jury deliberations by academic institutions or government agencies – a proposal that echoes the Law Commission’s recommendation in its 2013 report, Contempt of Court: Juror Misconduct and Internet Publications.
- Crown court data should be improved.
'IPP jail sentences: Man's two decades in prison for stealing laptop'
A prisoner who has served almost five times his original sentence for a laptop robbery still has no prospect of being released. Abdullahi Suleman, 41, from Cardiff, is still in prison after being handed an Imprisonment for Public Protection, external (IPP) sentence in 2005. These were handed out between 2005 and 2012 to try and keep the most dangerous criminals behind bars, but scrapped after criticism, such as the fact less serious offenders were getting caught up in the provision. Suleman is one of the 2,734 prisoners who remain incarcerated after receiving an IPP sentence - 1,132 of whom have never been released, according to the latest data, external...
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said "it is right" the sentences were abolished, adding: "The Lord Chancellor is committed to working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure the appropriate course of action is taken to support those still serving IPP sentences."
Sentencing Remarks in R v Choudary and another
Anjem Choudary and Khaled Hussein. You can both remain seated for the first part of these remarks. I have to sentence both of you for your involvement in Al Muhajiroun, a proscribed terrorist organisation. In your case, Anjem Choudary, you have been convicted of directing it and encouraging support for it. You, Khaled Hussein, have been convicted of being a member of it...
Anjem Choudary, stand up. The sentence I pass on you on count 1 is life imprisonment with a minimum term to serve of 28 years less the time you have already served which has been calculated at 372 days. That results in a minimum term of 26 years 358 days...
Khaled Hussein, stand up. The sentence on you is one of 6 years comprising a custodial sentence of 5 years with a one year extension to your licence period...
Obscurity
'Juror swears oath on a river in legal first'
Paul Powlesland was not far off quoting Shakespeare when he became probably the first juror in history to swear a legal oath on a river. Jurors are either required to make a promise to tell the truth or to swear on a holy book when they attend court. Instead the lawyer and activist produced a vial of water taken from the River Roding, at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London. He was met with a "quizzical" look from the court usher, who asked him to do a sip test to ensure it was not a toxic substance. "The judge called me in and said he'd never had a request like this before - he wasn't hostile at all, intrigued if anything," he told the BBC. Mr Powlesland explained that his devotion for the river, which includes planting trees along its banks, removing litter and campaigning against water pollution, is like a religion. "I told him the river was effectively my god, and that I hold the river to be sacred". On this basis, the judge allowed the oath alongside an affirmation...