Our attention has been brought to a blog about the accusations made against Jimmy Saville. You have to drill down to get the full picture but at first glance it seems to be a somewhat sceptical account of the allegations made. However it does provide a useful description of the context in which the allegations [...]
Duty of disclosure to be eased for ex-prisoners with convictions seeking insurance cover
May 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
There is a very interesting article in Inside Time regarding difficulties faced by ex prisoners in obtaining insurance. Thanks largely to the efforts of Sale Insurance Services (SIS) insurance discrimination against ex prisoners is soon to be a thing of the past. “Things are improving year on year and this month (April 2013) a change [...]
Kent Council Council pays £700k in compensation to pupils.
April 12, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The BBC have reported (see below) that Kent Council Council pays £700k in compensation to pupils. Nearly £700,000 has been paid out in compensation to pupils by Kent County Council following accidents in schools over the past five years. Payouts include compensation for trips and falls in playgrounds, and accidents on school trips. The biggest [...]
Using children as a moral shield
February 5, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to a very thought provoking article by Frank Furedi in Spiked online here which is well worth reading. It begins …. The new TV campaign by child-protection group the NSPCC, launched in the UK today, urges people to report any concern that they might have about a child. Its exhortation – ‘Don’t [...]
Thankyou SWAWC and FASO
December 6, 2012 from Leave a Comment
A big thankyou to all those who supported the recent Welsh Assembly initiative including in particular Dr Eady, SWAWC and FASO.
United Against Injustice’s 11th National Miscarriage of Justice Day
October 3, 2012 from 1 Comment
The United Against Injustice’s 11th National Miscarriage of Justice Day is to be held on Saturday 13th October 2012 between 10am – 5pm at St George’s Lecture Theatre, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 4DT Programme: 10.00 doors open 10.30 Workshop 1: Disclosure and documents, led by Dr Andrew Green and Kevin McMahon 11.15 break 11.30 – 12.30 [...]
INUK embraces YouTube
August 7, 2012 from Leave a Comment
INUK now has a YouTube site (here) for showing some of its videos and podcasts.
Abused adults to receive £8 million in compensation
September 19, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The BBC have reported that adults with learning disabilities at the centre of a care abuse case in Cornwall will receive about £8m in compensation. The High Court made the decision after 165 former residents of Falmouth’s Budock Hospital claimed compensation for failings including physical abuse. The claim was brought against the former Cornwall Partnership [...]
PAFAA/SOFAP launch new website
September 19, 2011 from Leave a Comment
We are pleased to announce that PAFAA (People Against False Allegations of Abuse) and SOFAP (Support Organisation for Falsely Accused People have launched a new web site (here). The site has been set up in an effort to offer help and support to anyone who has been falsely accused of abuse of a sexual nature. [...]
Newspapers admit making flase claims about suspect
August 3, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Eight national newspapers have made public apologies today to Christopher Jefferies for the libellous allegations made against him following the murder of Joanna Yeates. These include The Sun Daily Mirror Sunday Mirror Daily Record Daily Mail Daily Star The Scotsman Daily Express They have also agreed to pay him substantial libel damages, thought to total [...]
Supreme Court agree wrongly convicted men can be compensated.
May 12, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The Supreme Court have handed down their judgement (here) in the case of three men who claimed compensation for being wrongly convicted. By a narrow majority, the judges held that a miscarriage of justice occurs “when a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that the evidence against a defendant has been so undermined that [...]
Government announces major overhaul of civil justice
April 2, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The first major overhaul of the civil justice system in 15 years and reform of controversial ‘no win no fee’ deals were announced by Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke today. The proposals, which have been launched for public consultation, aim to modernise the civil justice system and make it simpler, quicker, cheaper and more effective. 29 [...]
Miners’ compensation claims website under investigation by MoJ – Law Society’s Gazette
November 11, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Thursday 11 November 2010 by James Dean A no win, no fee website set up to farm former coal miners’ undersettlement claims is being investigated by the government claims regulator, the Gazette has learned. The Ministry of Justice is investigating justiceforminers.org.uk after Kevan Jones, Labour MP for North Durham, complained to the claims management regulator. [...]
Kerelaw employee to sue over claims
November 9, 2010 from Leave a Comment
A social worker worker is suing his former bosses for £100,000 claiming he was smeared by cover-up allegations at a secure unit for troubled kids. Andrew Walker, 64, worked at Kerelaw Residential Unit in Stevenson, Ayrshire, which was shut in 2006 following a police probe. Two workers were jailed for abusing kids while a three-year [...]
Use of force: the need for greater clarity
November 1, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to a very useful article written by Dai Durbridge , a solicitor working for Browne Jacobson, who specialise in defending compensation cases made against local authorities. Mr Durbridge is an safeguarding specialist. The article which appears on the Teaching Expertise website begins… As the government prepares to introduce new guidance [...]
Claimants appeal dismissed in Catholic sex abuse case
November 1, 2010 from Leave a Comment
This case in the Court of Appeal Civil Division concerns some 150 or more claimants, who were previously resident at Catholic Children’s homes in the North East, proceeding by way of a group litigation order. There were at least 35 defendants. The issue considered by the Court of Appeal was to what extent were the [...]
Young report seeks to curb ‘compensation culture’
October 20, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Lord Young, the Prime Minister’s adviser on health and safety law and practice, has today published his report Common Sense, Common Safety.The report follows a Whitehall-wide review of the operation of health and safety laws and the growth of the compensation culture. Read the full report [pdf, 688 kb] The PM and the Cabinet have accepted [...]
A new legal ombudsman service launched with powers to investigate clients’ complaints.
October 20, 2010 from Leave a Comment
People who are dissatisfied with the service they have received from their lawyer can now complain to a legal ombudsman. The ombudsman can compel all regulated lawyers to comply with its investigations, and has the power to impose penalties ranging from apologising to a client, through to paying up to £30,000 compensation. The Ombudsman will [...]
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police wants to make it harder for people to sue his force.
October 12, 2010 from Leave a Comment
According to an article in the the Guardian Sir Paul Stephenson, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, has privately lobbied the home secretary to make it harder for people to take legal action against his force, the Guardian has learned. Critics say the plans amount to an attempt by the police to put themselves beyond [...]
Acticvities of personal injury and negligence lawyers under review
October 1, 2010 from Leave a Comment
A review of health and safety laws by a Tory peer is understood to recommend that the activities of personal injury and negligence lawyers should be curbed. The recommendation is one of 40 in a review of health and safety legislation by Lord Young of Graffham, a former trade secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s Government. He [...]
Do we really know what we think we know about child abuse narratives
September 20, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to an excellent article by Mark Smith, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Edinburgh, concerning Victim Narratives in Residential Child Care. You can download an on-line copy of this article here
Compensation Fraudster Jailed
September 9, 2010 from Leave a Comment
A fraudster was jailed today for trying to claim compensation from a number of local councils for injuries he had never suffered. Nathan Williams said he had tripped and fallen on the pavement in streets across eight London boroughs. Prosecutors estimated that if his claims had been successful they would have netted him more than [...]
Should juries in rape cases be told about the relative prevalence of false complaints?
August 26, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to some new research by David Wolchover and Anthony Heaton-Armstrong into rape convictions. The question posed by their research is whether or not ask should juries in rape cases be told about the relative prevalence of false complaints? The research is too detailed and complex to summarise but is well worth [...]
Number of complaints against Norfolk and Suffolk school staff revealed
August 26, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Parents in Norfolk and Suffolk were last night reassured that incidents remain “extremely rare” after new figures showed more than 250 complaints were made against school staff in the two counties during the last year. The alleged incidents – 139 in Norfolk and 109 in Suffolk – are among more than 1,700 across England unearthed [...]