News
'Knife crime: Cressida Dick says violent crime rise linked to policing numbers'
There is "some link" between falling police numbers and a rise in violent crime, the UK's top police officer, Cressida Dick, has said.
The Met Police commissioner was talking a day after Prime Minister Theresa May said there was "no direct correlation".
It comes after two 17-year-olds were killed in separate stabbings in London and Greater Manchester at the weekend.
'Shoreham air show pilot who crashed plane doing 'bent loop’ trick while 1,000ft too low, killing 11, cleared of gross negligence'
An air show jet pilot has been cleared of gross negligence manslaughter despite a jury hearing how his jet crashed in a fireball on a busy dual carriageway, killing 11 people.
Bereaved relatives gasped and wept as Andy Hill was found not guilty despite the Old Bailey hearing he had been too slow and probably as much as 1,000ft (305m) too low at the top of a ‘bent loop’ manoeuvre at the Shoreham air show in Sussex on 22 August 2015.
Fiona Onasanya MP Loses Appeal Against Conviction
Fiona Onasanya faces the possibility of being kicked out of parliament after losing an application to appeal against her conviction for perverting the course of justice.
Rejecting Onasanya’s appeal, Leveson said it was a “tragedy” that her career had been damaged irrevocably. “There is absolutely no basis for challenging her conviction,” he said.
Statement Regarding Potential Grenfell Inquiry Charges
Grenfell campaigners are "frustrated" at the news that criminal charges over the fire may not be brought for another two years.
Scotland Yard said in a statement it is unlikely to submit a file to the Crown Prosecution Service before "the latter part of 2021". It said it would be "wrong" not to wait for the final report of the Grenfell inquiry as the second phase is unlikely to begin before the end of this year.
'Court IT issue delays trials in England'
An IT issue left some trials across England unable to proceed on Thursday. Lawyers told BBC News that trials had been adjourned because evidence stored on court systems could not be accessed. HM Courts & Tribunals Service said its supplier had "made some changes" and users should "be seeing an improvement".
'Additional year to deliver ambitious court reforms'
HM Courts & Tribunals Service is extending its reform programme. Subject to cross-government approval the proposed finish date of the programme will be a year later, in 2023.
Cases
National Probation Service v The Crown Court Sitting At Blackfriars & Ors [2019] EWHC 529 (Admin)
The question on this appeal is whether a court which has made a community order imposing an unpaid work requirement has the power to extend the period during which the work must be performed after the "end date" specified in the order as the date by which all the requirements in the order must have been complied with. In my opinion, for the reasons given in this judgment, the court does indeed have such a power.
It is clear that, in drafting the relevant provisions, a distinction has been deliberately drawn between the period during which a community order imposing an unpaid work requirement remains in force and the period during which the work is required to be performed. It is the latter period which there is power to extend on an application under paragraph 20 of Schedule 8, provided the order remains in force – which, pursuant to section 200(3), it automatically does until the unpaid work is completed or the order is revoked.
Other
'The Trial: Secrets of Jury Service - What's it like when you go to court?'
Join juror Rob Hastings as he sits on a real trial and examines whether the system still works, in the first of a major four-part series
Almost any of us can be a juror, deciding people’s fates with no legal training – and in complete secrecy. Are our trials working? Disturbing evidence can leave some jurors traumatised. A senior judge and a high-ranking barrister tell us why they are concerned. Fraud cases can last months and can be hugely disruptive for jurors. One man who served on a year-long trial tells us of his experience.
'We need to take a long, hard look at whether trial by jury is working'
The relationship between a criminal barrister and a jury is a curious one. In many respects, jurors are the most important people in my working life. Whether instructed to prosecute or defend, my goal in every trial is to win the hearts and minds of the 12 strangers at the other side of the courtroom
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