Blog

Uncategorized / 22.10.2018

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...

Uncategorized / 22.10.2018

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,...

Uncategorized / 22.10.2018

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...

Uncategorized / 22.10.2018

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...

Uncategorized / 22.10.2018

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...

Uncategorized / 22.10.2018

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...

Uncategorized / 22.10.2018

Focus on 'Dangerous Dogs'   The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report 'Controlling dangerous dogs' calls for a full-scale review of current dog control legislation and policy to better protect the public. The report was published on 17 October 2018.   Is there a problem?   According to the Committee,...

Uncategorized / 22.10.2018

  Inadmissible confessions   The 2015 documentary series Making a Murderer follows the story of two men from Wisconsin who were convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering a woman.   One of the convicted was an impressionable teenager called Brendan Dassey. Dassey’s conviction was overturned in 2016 (confirmed on appeal...

Uncategorized / 22.10.2018

  The cannibal drug that makes you smell of vinegar and prawns   What are you talking about?   Monkey dust is a synthetic drug, a type of new psychoactive substance. It is similar to other cathinone drugs such as MDPV, methylone and magic crystals.   In the USA it is known...