Issue 435  31st January 2026

Homicides have fallen to their lowest level for nearly 50 years across England and Wales, official statistics show. There were 499 victims of murder, manslaughter and infanticide in the year to September, according to crime statistics, external published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is the lowest number since 1977 and a 7% fall on the previous year, largely due to a drop in the number of people killed by knives - 174, down 23%. Crimes with weapons also continued a downward trend. Knife crime offences were down by 9% to 50,430 and firearms offences fell by 9% to just under 5,000, their lowest since 2003...

The broader trends in violent crime in the survey, which is of adults aged over 16, were more flat. The ONS estimates there were around 1.1m incidents of violent crime, ranging from threats and jostling to assault and murder, which was little changed on the previous year. The number of robbery offences remained broadly similar at 82,678 but shoplifting increased by 5%, from 492,660 offences the previous year to 519,381...

Former court buildings in Fleetwood, Telford, Chichester and Cirencester – used as Nightingale Courts since the pandemic - will be restored as permanent fixtures, the government announced today. Courts minister Sarah Sackman MP said the move secures 11 additional courtrooms across the country where capacity is most needed, covering a mixture of criminal, family and civil cases – tackling the caseload and delivering swifter justice for victims. Sackman made the announcement while visiting the site of the new London Law Courts due to open in Fleet Street next year. The building will provide 18 courtrooms to hear Crown, magistrate and civil cases. At the peak of the 'Nightingale' initiative in July 2021, 60 temporary courtrooms were operating in hotels, conference centres and office buildings to keep justice moving during the pandemic...

The MoJ said it is investing £148.5 million this to repair and upgrade courts across England and Wales. Law Society president Mark Evans described the decision to convert the Nightingale facilities into permanent courts as 'sensible given the appalling backlogs'. However he said the government must ensure there are enough judges, court staff and lawyers to work on the cases. 'To bring down the backlogs and ensure truly swift and fair justice, the government must focus on efficiencies and sustained investment across the entire justice system, including reducing the number of cases coming into the courts'...

Following positive feedback from an initial pilot in the West Midlands, which launched in June 2025, the Solicitor General has confirmed the scheme will now expand to three more CPS Areas. Beginning with CPS North West in January, followed by CPS Yorkshire and Humberside in early February, and CPS Cyrmu-Wales in April.

Under the current system, criminal cases can be stopped at any point if a prosecutor decides there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. While victims can ask for the decision to be reviewed under the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme, this will not change the outcome. The pilot gives victims of rape or serious sexual abuse the right for their case to be reviewed by a different prosecutor before any final decisions are made, and the chance to continue proceedings remains. If that prosecutor determines there is enough evidence, the case will continue... The expansion will allow the Crown Prosecution Service to gather further evidence and data on the scheme’s effectiveness before any decision is made on a national rollout...

The convictions of five city traders, related to the setting of exchange rates, have been sent back to the courts by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The referrals follow the Supreme Court decision last summer to quash the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo related to LIBOR and EURIBOR. The CCRC received applications from the five men last August, following the Supreme Court decision which was handed down in July...

In their applications to the CCRC Mr Pabon, Mr Merchant and Mr Mathew submitted that the trial judge adopted and replicated legal directions which have been found to be wrong, and this undermines the safety of their convictions. The CCRC also believes the defendants were deprived of the opportunity to have their defence cases left to the jury. In the submissions of both Mr Moryoussef and Mr Bermingham, they argued there were the same misdirections and errors of law as those identified by the Supreme Court with Mr Palombo, and there was no sensible basis to distinguish the cases. After analysing the submissions in all five cases and reviewing the directions in the context of the Supreme Court judgment, the CCRC has determined there is no distinguishing factor between these cases and the cases of Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo, and the jury misdirection and legal errors have undermined the safety of all the convictions...

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has today [Tuesday 27 January] referred five people’s IPP/DPP sentences to the appellate courts after the Court of Appeal recently quashed indeterminate sentences which were imposed on other men at a similarly young age...

These five referrals arise from work done by the CCRC to examine the possible implications for other IPP/DPP cases arising from the Court of Appeal decisions in the cases of Leighton Williams [2024], Darren Hilling [2024], and Steven Sillitto [2025] who were young adults when they were sentenced. In quashing those men’s sentences, the Court concluded that the sentencing judges had failed to attach the necessary weight to the age and maturity of the offender before imposing an indeterminate sentence. The sentences in all five of the cases being sent back to the courts today were imposed on relatively young men, more than 15 years ago, none with a tariff over three and a half years. In three of those, imposed almost 20 years ago, the highest tariff was a year and nine months. All five men remain in prison...

Police in England and Wales will be given targets to respond to emergencies within 15 minutes in urban areas, and 20 minutes in rural areas, as part of a major overhaul to be outlined later. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will also pledge to get officers to spend more time on the streets, cutting "red tape" and "unnecessary admin" she says prevents them leaving their stations. Mahmood said it was a response to an epidemic of "everyday crime", such as shoplifting and phone theft, which she said was going "unpunished"...

Most forces already have emergency response targets, but the Home Office said there was currently no way of holding them accountable if they do not meet that standard. Failure to reach the new targets would see the home secretary sending in experts from high performing forces to help improve response times. Chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council Gavin Stephens said that forces would not "obsess" about a target if they could not get to a call safely. He told Times Radio that policing needed to change in response to a "whole range of threats", including cyber-crime. The targets are part of the government's plans for major changes to policing in England and Wales...