Posts Categorized: News
Pensions – Time to Rethink Corporate Responsibility
The government has published proposals to punish individuals who mishandle pension scheme management. Two new offences are proposed. The first will target individuals within firms who wilfully or recklessly mishandle pension schemes, endangering their workers’ pensions, by things such as chronic mismanagement of a business; or allowing huge unsustainable deficits/(losses) to build up; or taking… Read more »
Drug Detection and Prisons
The government has announced that drug detection scanners are being introduced at ten of the “most challenging” prisons. The technology will be used to detect drugs on clothes, paper and mail. It will be able to detect otherwise invisible traces of substances that have been soaked into clothes or letters in an attempt to bypass… Read more »
Review of the Parole Board
The Parole Board is an independent body that carries out risk assessments on prisoners serving certain sentences to determine whether they can be safely released into the community. When a person is considered to be fit for release it means that their risk has been reduced to a level where it is low enough to… Read more »
Causing Death by Dangerous Driving – Sentencing Issues
In a recent case the judge was faced with the task of sentencing 3 offenders for their part in causing the death of 4 people, and seriously injuring 3 others. The main offender Elliot Bower received a total prison sentence of 11 1/2 years. The offence of causing death by dangerous driving carries a maximum… Read more »
Voyeurism and ‘Upskirting’ – Government Acts to Strengthen Law
The Voyeurism (Offences) Bill completed its parliamentary journey on 15th January 2019. As the Act will create new criminal offences, the usual convention is that at least two months will pass before the offence comes in to force. Why was this law passed? This new law deals with ‘upskirting’, which is: ‘…the practice of taking… Read more »
Community Protection Notices
Community Protection Notices (CPNs) are currently attracting a lot of attention from the legal community, and we have many concerns surrounding the way in which they are presently being used. In the recent case of Stannard a CPN in the following terms was challenged: “The notice now requires that you: 1 – are not to… Read more »
BBC article defends role of defence lawyers following death threats
Richard Egan, Senior Partner at Tuckers Solicitors, has received numerous threats following the coverage of the Jack Shepherd case. BBC Legal Correspondent, Clive Coleman, has now responded in a piece on the BBC website, which amongst other things quotes former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas mounting a robust defence of the role of criminal defence… Read more »
Government Unveils New Domestic Abuse Legislation
On Monday the government unveiled its new strategy to tackle domestic abuse. The new measures are: Introducing the first ever statutory government definition of domestic abuse, which will include economic abuse Establishing the office of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and setting out the Commissioner’s functions and powers Providing for a new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice… Read more »
Sleepwalking – Is it a Defence?
You wake up one morning from sleepwalking the night before and the horror of the night before quickly unfolds. Blue lights and uniformed police officers greet you, search your house and find your girlfriend dead in the bathroom. You have no memory of anything happening overnight, and she was alive and well when you went… Read more »
Can I Change a Guilty Plea?
Although it should go without saying that no guilty plea ought to be entered in any criminal case unless all the evidence has been considered – as it is not easy to later change a guilty plea. But regrettably, we see an increasing number of people, who have attended court alone, being pressured into entering… Read more »