Alexa – Witness for the Prosecution? On 29th January 2017, Christine Sullivan and her housemate were found murdered in Farmington, New Hampshire, USA. Their bodies were discovered by the house owner, Dean Smoronk, who was Sullivan’s boyfriend. Timothy Verrill, an associate of Smornok, was later charged with...
Can I get a suspended prison sentence? A suspended sentence is a term of imprisonment that is suspended so that you do not go into custody immediately and will not go into custody if you comply with the conditions attached. Who can get a suspended sentence? In the...
Acid Attacks - New Laws in Force After a recent spate of assaults involving the use of acids and other corrosive substances, the Government has acted to try and curb their use. At the present time around 15 offences per week involve the use of acid...
Assaults on Emergency Workers Is there a specific offence? Until now the only specific offence has been that of assaulting a police officer. This is a summary only offence which carries a maximum of 6 months imprisonment. There has always been an option to charge an offender with...
I have to give the police my phone PIN? The simple answer is no, but there are potential consequences in certain circumstances. When can they ask? It is arguable that the police could ask you whenever they wanted for your PIN, you can always say no. The critical...
Private Probation Providers Fail Offenders and Society A few years ago, the National Probation Service was split into two. The existing service maintained its supervision of high-risk offenders, mainly those serving lengthy sentences or with complex rehabilitation needs, the remaining offenders, by far the vast majority,...
Contempt of Court The case of Tommy Robinson, or to give him his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has brought this issue into the public eye, but what is it all about? What is contempt of court? The interesting thing about contempt of court is the many ways in...
Companies and Bribery Section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 makes it an offence for a company to bribe another with the intent of obtaining or retaining business or to gain an advantage in business. The first conviction after trial for an offence under this section was...
Can I get a reduced sentence by helping the police? You may have heard about ‘texts’ or a ‘Brown envelope to the Judge’, some of the names for the old system. If you helped the police a ‘text’ may be handed to the sentencing judge explaining that...
Publishing, or having for publication for gain, an obscene article Prosecuting those who publish obscene articles (an offence under section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959) is hardly prudish, despite what certain commentators would argue. The maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment will frequently be warranted...