Criminal Law

20.09.23

Pitfalls of car insurance policies and obscure criminal offences that can arise

Thinking of lending someone your car?  Think twice, if not three times. In the past, many comprehensive car insurance policies enabled policy holders to drive another owner’s car and be insured fully, or at least have “third party” insurance cover. Aside from the financial risks of taking to the road and being involved in an…

13.09.23

Abuse of process: does a defendant have a right of appeal?

Staying a case as an abuse of the court’s process is an inherent power of the criminal courts to stop a prosecution either where it is impossible to hold a fair trial or in circumstances where it is necessary to protect the integrity of the criminal justice system. The basis for making such an application…

6.09.23

I have been accused of a crime: will it be made public?

If you have been accused of a crime, whether this information will become public is likely to depend on whether you have been charged or not. Pre-charge: police investigation The recent case of Bloomberg LP v ZXC [2022] UKSC 5 makes it clear that generally there is an expectation that during the police investigation, someone…

23.08.23

The tragic case of Andrew Malkinson

It is beyond contention that in the early hours of the morning on 9 July 2003 a young woman ‘C’ was brutally attacked and raped during which she sustained serious injury including the severance of her nipple. She gave a description of her attacker whom she said she had scratched down the face with her…

The difficulty with forcing defendants to attend their sentencing hearings

Last week, Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others. She refused to attend Court on Monday for her sentence hearing when she received a whole life order. This follows other high-profile cases where defendants have refused to attend their sentence hearings, including Thomas Cashman who shot and…

20.07.23

What does the criminal law say about the receipt and solicitation of sexual images from young people?

In recent weeks, the media has been engulfed with stories about alleged sexual misconduct involving media personalities. Firstly, a BBC presenter, now revealed by his wife to be the news broadcaster Huw Edwards, was alleged by The Sun to have paid for images of sexual nature from a young person.  The Sun initially seemed to…

11.07.23

The Public Order Act 2023: Clamping down on protests

The Public Order Act 2023 introduced several new offences relating to protests. These came into force on 3 May 2023 and 2 July 2023. The aim of the Act is to increase the police’s ability to restrict and criminalise protest activity when it causes serious disruption. The Public Order Act 2023 introduces the following new…

26.06.23

Repaying a debt which may contravene the UK sanction regime against Russia

Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine has led to the UK and other countries imposing various sanctions on Russia including.  A list of sanctioned individuals and entities which can be accessed here.  However, the sanctions regime is much broader and covers dealing with “involved persons” connected to Russia under The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019…

14.04.23

Minimum legal age for marriage has increased to 18

On 27 February 2023, the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 came into effect. The Act introduces a number of reforms to the law surrounding marriage. The most significant of these is an increase in the legal age for marriage or civil partnership from 16 to 18. Previously, 16- and 17-year-olds were permitted…

4.04.23

Georgia Harrison to sue Stephen Bear over revenge porn/image-based abuse that has already landed him in jail

  Who are Stephen Bear and Georgia Harrison? If you are not a fan of reality television, then it’s unlikely you would have heard of either of Stephen Bear or Georgia Harrison until recently. Stephen Bear, 33, appeared on Shipwrecked in 2011 and Ex on the Beach in 2015.  These accomplishments allowed Bear to qualify…