News
BBC in the Dock for Contempt of Court
The British Broadcasting Corporation (‘BBC’) found itself in the embarrassing position of being fined £28,000 recently after admitting being in contempt of Court. Why was the BBC in trouble? On the morning of 17 November 2020, the BBC made a video and audio recording of half a day’s hearing in the Planning Court before Holgate J. The Judge was hearing argument on the first...Read More
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Parole Board Hearings – Public Scrutiny
Currently, all parole hearings are held in private – this is set out in legislation in the Parole Board Rules. Following a consultation exercise, the government has now committed to opening up the hearings and allowing public access. Legislative change is expected in the next few months. The government has stated that: ‘…we are persuaded that the current blanket ban in legislation...Read More
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Sentencing and the issue of ‘psychological harm.’
A number of the definitive guidelines published by the Sentencing Council direct Judges and Magistrates to consider whether the victim of an offence has suffered severe psychological harm. In some guidelines, that question has to be considered at step 1 of the sentencing process: a finding of severe psychological harm places the case into a higher category and thus increases the starting point...Read More
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Drug money & Sentencing – Is Cash Relevant?
When someone is arrested for supplying drugs, it is not uncommon for drug money to be recovered as well. In the case of Mahmood EWCA Crim 1532, the court dealt with the relevance of cash when determining which sentencing category an offence fell into. A large quantity of drugs was seized from Mahmood’s premises along with around £30,000 in cash. The Judge found that the offending fell...Read More
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Dog Theft; Barking Mad?
The theft of animals, and in particular dog theft, has been on the rise for some time. On LBC radio recently the Home Secretary Priti Patel described it as ‘absolutely shocking’ and said that she was in talks about upgrading pet theft to a more serious offence, meaning that more substantial penalties could apply. The results of a BBC freedom of information request showed that five...Read More
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