Issue 97  6th July 2019

Arson and Criminal Damage Sentencing Guidelines

Today we have published new sentencing guidelines for arson and criminal damage offences that will see the courts take full account of the harm caused by offences such as arson attacks on historic buildings or criminal damage leading to severe disruption of public services.

The guidelines, which come into effect on 1 October 2019, will help to ensure that sentencing by judges and magistrates will be consistent across the whole range of these offences. Limited guidance exists in magistrates’ courts, but the new guidelines apply to all courts. They cover the following offences:

• Arson – criminal damage by fire
• Criminal damage / arson with intent to endanger life or being reckless as to whether life endangered
• Criminal damage where the damage has a value exceeding £5,000
• Criminal damage where the damage has a value not exceeding £5,000
• Racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage
• Threats to destroy or damage property

'SFO announces DPA in principle with Serco Geografix Ltd'

The Serious Fraud Office today announces that a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Serco Geografix Limited (SGL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Serco Group, has been approved in principle by Mr Justice William Davis.

If approved, the DPA will result in a payment by SGL of £19.2m and payment of the SFO’s costs. Compensation to the victim of the conduct, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), has already been paid by Serco as part of a £70m civil settlement in 2013.

The judgment is available here.

'Cliff Richard and Stephen Fry launch sex offence anonymity campaign'

Sir Cliff Richard has called for a "re-balancing of the legal system" as he launched a petition calling for anonymity for sexual offence suspects before they are charged.

Sir Cliff is one of several well-known figures backing the campaign group Falsely Accused Individuals for Reform (Fair). The group's parliamentary petition calls for a change in the law so those suspected of sexual offences have anonymity until they are charged, unless there are exceptional circumstances. It reached 10,000 signatures on Monday afternoon, which means the government will respond. It needs 100,000 signatures to be considered for a debate in Parliament.

'Tommy Robinson faces jail after judges find him in contempt of court'

Tommy Robinson faces jail after high court judges found him in contempt of court for filming defendants in a criminal trial and broadcasting the footage on social media.

The former EDL leader faces up to two years in prison in relation to the incident in May 2018, when he filmed defendants accused of the sexual exploitation of young girls and livestreamed the footage, in breach of a reporting ban, outside Leeds crown court.

The court said his conduct “amounted to serious interference with the administration of justice”. The sentence will be decided at a later date.

'Boris Johnson pledges to increase stop and search powers'

Conservative leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson has said he would increase stop and search powers in a bid to tackle rising knife crime in the UK. Answering questions from Tory members over the phone, Johnson admitted extra funding was needed to support police in order to beat the “nightmare” issue. “But it’s also about giving police the political cover and support they need to do stop and search and to come down hard on those carrying knives,” he said. The former London mayor added that he “would like to see more officers out on the street” but offered no definite plans as to when or how this would be achieved.

'UK's largest police forensics lab Eurofins pays ransom to hackers'

The UK's largest private forensic company, which works on tens of thousands of criminal cases each year, was forced to pay a ransom to hackers last month after its systems were brought down by a cyber attack.

On Friday, sources suggested that the "immediate steps" had included Eurofins paying the ransom, confirming an earlier BBC News report. It is unclear how much money was paid or when, but it is likely to have taken place at some point between June 10 and June 24.