This is an extract of an item which appears on the Guardian website on 8th Jan 2013 The court of appeal has quashed the murder convictions of five men convicted of a gangland killing after hearing of failures to reveal potentially crucial evidence to the defence. The five men were serving life sentences totalling a minimum of [...]
Mail on Sunday expose ambulance chasing lawyers amid concerns that lawyer is facing investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
December 3, 2012 from Leave a Comment
A Mail on Sunday investigation exposes ambulance-chasing lawyer’s in care home case In a very detailed article David Rose questions the practice of Mr Greenwood, a partner of a Jordan’s a large law firm in Yorkshire who specialise in fighting for compensation for victims of alleged child abuse, which the Mail says has benefitted from receiving millions [...]
Wrongly convicted father granted care of children again
October 18, 2012 from Leave a Comment
A father wrongly convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and cruelty against his baby daughter has been told he can care for his children again. Ben Butler of south London was accused of shaking his baby in 2007 after taking her to hospital where doctors diagnosed bleeding on the brain. He was convicted at Croydon [...]
Deputy headteacher cleared of assaulting unruly pupil
September 6, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This article has been extracted from the Guardian website on the 16th August 2012. A deputy headteacher has been cleared of assaulting a pupil. Royden Cope, 63, was accused of restraining the boy by his wrists and then slapping him across the face. The incident, in March, was witnessed by another teacher at the Lancashire [...]
Judge orders Sun to hand over documents about false Louis Walsh story
August 15, 2012 from Leave a Comment
An Irish high court judge ruled that Walsh is entitled to the discovery of documents connected to a Sun story, which alleged that Walsh had made a sexual attack on a man in a night club toilet. After it was published in June last year it emerged that the allegations were false and the man [...]
Sam Hallam released after seven years in prison
May 20, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This article by Sandra Laville, crime correspondent appeared here on the Guardian website on 17th May 2012 Sam Hallam became one of the youngest victims of a miscarriage of justice on Wednesday when the court of appeal released him after he served seven years for murder. Hallam, 24, emerged with his mother on to the steps [...]
Teacher falsely accused of paedophilia in “Ku Klux Klan-like” internet campaign
May 3, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This article has been extracted from the Daily Telegraph 3rd May 2012. Neil Carr, 25 – who is heterosexual but celibate – was placed under investigation after a colleague overheard two young boys say to each other: ”Mr Carr is gay” during a conversation in a corridor. When asked about their comment both boys claimed [...]
A Devon man wrongly accused of raping a woman cleared following a DNA mistake
March 27, 2012 from Leave a Comment
A Devon man wrongly accused of raping a woman in Manchester has spoken of his anger over a DNA mistake which led to the charge. Charges were dropped against the man when it emerged that a DNA sample was contaminated in the laboratories of Teddington-based LGC Forensics. The man also said he hoped that the [...]
Police admit malicious prosecution of a serving police officer
January 27, 2012 from Leave a Comment
BBC North East report that A former Cleveland Police officer who was wrongfully sent to prison has been awarded almost £400,000 after an 18-year legal fight. Former traffic officer Sultan Alam, 48, was jailed for 18 months in 1996 for conspiracy to steal car parts, but was cleared by the Court of Appeal in 2007. [...]
CPS statement on R v Mouncher and Others
December 2, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Following the collapse of the trial the Crown Prosecution Service have issued the following statement CPS statement on R v Mouncher and Others 01/12/2011 The CPS has today decided to discontinue proceedings in the trial of eight former police officers accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Simon Clements, the CPS reviewing lawyer [...]
Two ex policeman cleared after super grass recants
November 17, 2011 from Leave a Comment
One of the most significant police anti-corruption cases in modern times has collapsed, after two former detectives, who had both served lengthy jail sentences, were cleared at a retrial. Robert Clark and Christopher Drury were drummed out of the force in disgrace after being convicted in 2000 of robbing drug dealers and recycling the narcotics. Their convictions [...]
A top West Midlands Police officer cleared of child sex offence charges
October 28, 2011 from Leave a Comment
A top West Midlands Police officer has been cleared of child sex offence charges. Det Insp Glen Boulton, 46, was found not guilty after the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence. Judge Robert Orme directed the jury to return not guilty verdicts at Warwick Crown Court. The officer of more than 20 years experience said [...]
Teacher waits five years to clear name
October 18, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph on the 20th October (here) When Alison Addison was accused of abusing the special-needs children in her care, she thought she would quickly be cleared. The claims – that she had physically abused the children, used racist words and had sexual intercourse with the caretaker in her school’s [...]
Torment of teacher cleared of sex attack claims: Accusations saw him barred from birth of son
October 1, 2011 from 1 Comment
This article by James Tozer appeared in the Daily Mail on the 27th September A teacher cleared of sexually assaulting six pupils yesterday told of the agony of being ordered to live away from his wife and baby son. Peter Wilson suffered the indignity of social workers attending the birth of his first child and [...]
Lawyer and top author demand anonymity for accused teachers
September 19, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This item appeared on the Yorkshire Post web site here A campaign for an overhaul of the law to grant anonymity to teachers accused by pupils ahead of court cases has been launched by a lawyer who has joined forces with an international best-selling author. The call for the so-called Bill’s Law has been named [...]
Assistant head cleared of assaulting girl, 15, reveals his six months of hell ‘hiding out in a caravan’
September 19, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Assistant head cleared of assaulting girl, 15, reveals his six months of hell ‘hiding out in a caravan’ For William Stuart, it became a ritual. Every morning, he would leave his neat semi-detached home and take refuge for the day in a caravan at a nearby park. He could not bear to face questions from [...]
Metropolitan Police confirm that a sexual assault case against MP has been dropped
June 23, 2011 from Leave a Comment
It has been widely reported in the press that the Metropoilitan Police have confirmed a sexual assault case against Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has been dropped. Backbench MP Mr Bridgen, 46, was arrested in central London in the early hours of 9 June after a 29-year-old woman made a complaint to police. The North West [...]
Court of Appeal clear man of historic abuse allegations
April 11, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to a Court of Appeal judgment in which a man was cleared of convictions relating to offences said to have occurred between 37 and 40 years prior to their disclosure. Neutral Citation Number: [2011] EWCA Crim 726 Case No: D1/201002010 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL [...]
Paramedic falsely accused of rape to sue over sacking
April 4, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This extract has been taken from a report that appeared in the Evening Standard on 31st March 2011 A paramedic who was sacked after a patient falsely accused him of rape is suing the London Ambulance Service for unfair dismissal. The patient, 33, called police an hour after David Gledhill had escorted her back into [...]
Norfolk teacher cleared
February 7, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This report by Christine Cunningham appeared on EDP on the 5th February 2011 A dedicated retired art teacher was last night hoping to rebuild his life after being cleared of sexually assaulting a pupil at a Norfolk school. Christopher Harvey, 63, a former teacher at Northgate High School, Dereham, was yesterday cleared by a Norwich [...]
Vicar cleared of molesting children over 30 years ago
October 1, 2010 from Leave a Comment
A vicar and former teacher accused of molesting pupils more than 30 years ago has been acquitted by a jury on all counts. The Rev James Wilson was found not guilty by a jury of 16 counts of indecently assaulting children under the age of 13 which he had faced. Canon Wilson, the Rector and [...]
Police witch hunt criticised
September 28, 2010 from Leave a Comment
A former approved school housemaster has been cleared of sexual abuse allegations, amid stinging criticism of police investigators in the North East. Roderick Ryall, 68, had been subject to a “witch hunt” by police and alleged victims seeking to take advantage of his past convictions for child abuse, Teesside Crown Court heard. Walking free from [...]
Accuser jailed for pouring petrol over man cleared of historic abuse
July 7, 2010 from Leave a Comment
A church-going father who was raped as a child has been jailed for a year after attacking a man in Reading Crown Court this morning. John Affleck, 52, grabbed 63-year-old Oliver Gilbart-Smith and poured petrol over him during a hearing in one of the courtrooms before being restrained by court officers. Mr Gilbart-Smith had been [...]