Monday, 21 October 2019 10:03
Police officers are texting middle-class drug users
Police officers are texting middle-class drug users when their dealers’ phones are seized, amid growing fears that they are encouraging child exploitation. Forces can apply for court orders to have suppliers’ phones disconnected.
Friday, 18 October 2019 12:47
Support for PICU
WESSEX are Supporting Critically ill Children AND THEIR FAMILIES this Christmas! Every year at Wessex we try to help the registered charity ‘Friends of PICU’ as they are very close to our hearts. Friends of PICU aims to support the children and their families by providing vital equipment and services that are not always provided by the statutory authorities. This Christmas Wessex aim to make things that little easier for those families by collecting donations and items to make hampers for the families that are not lucky enough to spend Christmas at home but rather in the Paediatric Intensive Care…
Thursday, 17 October 2019 10:10
Imprisonment for Public Protection
What are they? Sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection, otherwise known as IPP sentences are prison sentences with no set release date or maximum stay. These sentences are lawful under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and were first used in April 2005. IPP’s were designed to protect the public from dangerous offenders whose crime did not meet the threshold of a life sentence tariff.
Wednesday, 16 October 2019 09:45
Money isn't everything
Money isn’t everything and the failed cases reported in today’s Times will include a number of unforced errors by prosecutors (and, incidentally, by the police).But in the end public services are like everything else: you get what you pay for.
Tuesday, 15 October 2019 11:38
Release under investigation failures
Government reforms to prevent people languishing for long spells under pre-charge bail have left at least 193,000 people languishing in legal limbo, according to police figures. Data for 2017-2018 obtained by London firm Hickman & Rose through Freedom of Information requests feature in a Law Society briefing on 'Release under investigation' published today.
Monday, 14 October 2019 10:10
Advice for those attending court
The government has produced advice for those attending court.
Friday, 11 October 2019 09:59
Brexit and Crime
It has been widely reported that hate crimes have significantly increased due to racial tensions over Brexit. There have certainly been spikes in crimes such as malicious communication, verbal abuse and harassment on key Brexit dates. Perhaps in response, figures released by the Crown Prosecution Service late last year indicated harsher sentences for hate crime offences.
Thursday, 10 October 2019 12:13
Police cant solve crime crisis alone...
"Police cant solve crime crisis alone...."
Wednesday, 09 October 2019 10:31
False confessions
False confessions happen. Know your rights. Make sure you are protected and have legal advice.
Saturday, 05 October 2019 09:46
'Devastating’ backlog of outstanding court cases
Newly revealed figures cast light on a ‘devastating’ backlog of outstanding court cases, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has said. According to data obtained by the CBA from the Ministry of Justice, thousands of cases at Crown court centres were yet to be disposed of or were still open on 31 March 2019. At Snaresbrook Crown Court, for example, some 1,106 cases were outstanding, including 213 violence cases, 55 sexual cases, 60 robbery cases and 87 theft offences. Meanwhile at Isleworth Crown Court 830 cases were outstanding, including 140 violence cases, 39 sexual offences and 31 robbery cases. In her…
Tuesday, 01 October 2019 14:13
Pre-Sentence Reports - What are they and how can they help?
If you pleaded guilty to an offence, or were found guilty after trial, the Court may request a pre-sentence report (PSR). This is to give the Court a fuller and more well-balanced picture of who you are (as opposed to focusing purely on your offence) before passing sentence. This may be done as a verbal report, on the day. Alternatively, the Court may adjourn for 3 weeks for a written report. Interviews will be conducted by the Probation Service and will take roughly an hour. Whilst the delay in your sentencing is understandably frustrating, this report may well be extremely…
Friday, 27 September 2019 15:53
System is failing young people caught up in county lines drug operations.
Young British victims of human trafficking who have been forced to sell drugs in county lines operations are being charged and prosecuted despite guidelines against doing so, the Guardian can reveal. The Modern Slavery Act gives young people and vulnerable adults the right to raise a “section 45” defence, which states they were trafficked and forced to commit offences. The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) internal policy states that where a child or young person might have been trafficked and exploited through criminal activity there is a strong public interest in stopping the prosecution. But the Guardian has identified a series…
Wednesday, 25 September 2019 13:26
Do NOT take no for an answer when it comes to disclosure.
Further to denying assaulting two police officers in May 2018, Wessex Solicitors pursued the CCTV and Body Worn Footage taken by the police officers themselves in order to support our client’s case. Initially, the prosecution indicated that there were problems with the footage in that had not been downloaded, that there had been an error with the systems and further that it had been inadvertently deleted. Finally, after continually pursuing the matter the footage was disclosed which supported our client. At trial, after viewing the footage and hearing submissions from Counsel, Max Mills of 2 Harcourt Buildings, London instructed by…
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