Month: January 2017

30.01.17

Serious Fraud Office agrees to defer prosecution of Rolls Royce plc

Following a four year investigation into corruption and bribery, the Serious Fraud Office (‘SFO’) have entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (‘DPA’) with Rolls Royce Plc, the global engineering giant.  The agreement was approved by the High Court on 17 January 2017 and, in effect, allows Rolls Royce to account for its conduct without facing…

Harassment Warnings/Police Information Notices: Restraining Orders without due process?

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA) was introduced to target stalking.  For the most part, Parliament had strangers in mind, whether physically following a victim and/or persistently giving them unwanted attention.  As is often the way, enforcement of the Act evolved from those early intentions.  Now, the vast majority of prosecutions involve people who know…

9.01.17

Can an entire CPS department be ‘professionally embarrassed’ and have to withdraw from a prosecution?

On 16 December 2016, a road rage prosecution against two defendants was dismissed after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) advocate withdrew on the day of trial, citing ‘professional embarrassment’.  Despite the case being put back in the list, no replacement CPS advocate could be found and so the case could not continue. Stockport Magistrates then…

Ministry of Justice report recommends convicted juveniles should be given lifelong anonymity

A Review of the Youth Justice System in England and Wales carried out by Charlie Taylor on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and published in December 2016 (available here) has made some 36 separate recommendations concentrating on a devolved youth justice system with a greater focus on education and rehabilitation. One of the recommendations…

Brett Wilson LLP and partners recommended in Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners directories

The prestigious Legal 500 directory has again listed Brett Wilson LLP as a leading firm in the fields of reputation management, white collar crime/fraud and general crime. The 2016 edition of the directory was published on 14 September 2016.  This is the fifth consecutive year that Brett Wilson LLP has featured in the directory. Additionally, partners Iain Wilson and Nick…

2.01.17

Claimants obtain interim injunction preventing disclosure of extramarital affair

In TRK & BVP v ICM [2016] EWHC 2810 Mr Justice Warby granted an interim without notice injunction preventing a spurned lover from disclosing private information obtained from the alleged hacking of his former lover’s computer system. Background As the hearing was ex parte (i.e. made without notice to the Defendant), the judge was reliant solely on evidence advanced…

Vacancy: Junior Paralegal/administrator – media law

Junior Paralegal/administrator required. Principal role will be to provide support to a busy boutique firm in Farringdon, London, EC1 specialising in libel/privacy, regulatory and criminal/fraud work. Work will involve a mixture of administrative tasks/general office support (75%), including the collecting of DX, greeting of clients and other visitors etc, and some fee-earning (25%), principally for…