Our attention has been drawn to a challenging article by Frank Furedi published on Spike Online here It begins … After Savile: policing as entertainment Operation Yewtree isn’t about solving crime – it’s more like a reality TV format where the police’s aim is to thrill the paedo-fearing public. When, 50 years from now, historians look back [...]
Conviction rates for rape and domestic violence cases have risen to an all time high
May 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This is an extract from a a more detailed report which appeared on the Guardian website here on 23rd April. Conviction rates for rape and domestic violence cases have risen to an all time high, the director of public prosecutions (DPP) has revealed, amid criticism that too few cases are being brought to court. Figures released by the [...]
Two Justice Gap articles – both well worth reading.
April 15, 2013 from Leave a Comment
There are two excellent articles on the Justice Gap website, one written by Paul May about the demonisation of hospital nurses and the other by David Rose concerning the thorny topic of the relationship between defence law and journalists. Both well worth reading. Sketch by Isobel Williams In (Nurses) We Trust (?) Paul May kicks off [...]
Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England given power to request any person or body to supply relevant information
April 4, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2013 has now been enacted. This amends Section 8 of the Act inserts by inserting Section 14B into the Children Act 2004(b) which gives Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England the power to request any person or body to supply such information as is specified in [...]
Frank Furedi see the Saville scandal more as a ‘moral crusade’ rather than a ‘moral panic’?
April 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Frank Furedi, author, sociologist has written a new book called Moral Crusades in an Age of Mistrust: The Jimmy Savile Scandal. In an review on Spiked on Line Furedi states … I’ve become concerned about how the issue of children and abuse has become so badly moralised. It is as if any claim is permissible if [...]
David Aaronovitch says lets be careful in our assessment of victims of abuse and the falsely accused.
April 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
There is an interesting article in The Times (March 21 2013) written by David Aaronovitch in which he attempts to balance out the often conflicting and competing claims of an imaginary person who was abused by a minor celebrity, and the claims of an imaginary innocent man who has been in the public eye. Imagine you are [...]
The three women fighting to clear their loved ones’ names
March 18, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The three women fighting to clear their loved ones’ names What is it like if your brother or son is convicted of murder when you are convinced they are innocent? Three women who have fought for years to prove their loved ones’ innocence tell their story. Read their stories on Guardian Online here and guardian.co.uk/video.
New CPS report shows that while false allegations must be taken seriously they are relatively rare and are often complex cases
March 13, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Writing in the Guardian (here) Keir Starmer QC, director of public prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service. says .. The Crown Prosecution Service has come a long way in dealing with cases involving violence against women and girls. In the last year (2011-12) we have seen the conviction rate rise to 73%, delivering the [...]
Media Release: Chris Saltrese responds to DPP’s proposals to review sexual offences programme.
March 12, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Following media release has been issued by Chris Saltrese, a solicitor specialising in defending allegations of sexual abuse . MEDIA RELEASE CHRIS SALTRESE RESPONSE TO THE DPP’S PROPOSALS TO REVIEW SEXUAL OFFENCE PROSECUTIONS “Case building’ risks case manufacture in historic child abuse” warns defence solicitor. Responding to the DPPs proposals to increase prosecutions for alleged [...]
Criminal Cases Review Commission – better the devil you know? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
February 18, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Halsbury Law Exchange have published an article titled “Criminal Cases Review Commission – better the devil you know?” which discusses various opinions about the efficacy of the CCRC following the Governments call for evidence as part of a series non-departmental triennial reviews. The triennial review is part of the Coalition’s much-trumpeted “bonfire of the [...]
Final Report Of The Independent Inquiry Into Care Provided By Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Published
February 6, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The final report into the care provided by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was published today. The Inquiry Chairman, Robert Francis QC, concluded that patients were routinely neglected by a Trust that was preoccupied with cost cutting, targets and processes and which lost sight of its fundamental responsibility to provide safe care. Download Inquiry Report [...]
Treating every allegation against Jimmy Savile as a ‘fact’ undermines justice
January 15, 2013 from 1 Comment
For a different slant on the Jimmy Saville Affair see the article written by Charles More published in the Daily Telegraph which is reproduced in full below The lead headline on the BBC website yesterday said: “Jimmy Savile scandal: Report reveals extent of abuse”. Well, I have read the whole of the report, and I [...]
Only a fraction of sexual offences in England and Wales results in a conviction according to a statistical review.
January 13, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This extract has been taken from the BBC website here Only a fraction of sexual offences in England and Wales results in a conviction, a statistical review says. It said there were up to 517,000 sex assault claims every year, with 54,310 sex offences recorded as crimes by police and 5,620 offenders convicted. Statisticians analysing [...]
Jimmy Saville: A Report for the Director of Public Prosecutions by Alison Levitt Q.C.
January 13, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Jimmy Saville: A Report for the Director of Public Prosecutions by Alison Levitt Q.C. Extracted below is the the reports introductory summary and the conclusion. For a full understanding of the issues you should read the whole report (here) Introductory Summary This case concerns four allegations that the late Jimmy Savile indecently assaulted girls and [...]
Macur Review issues a call for evidence
January 11, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Independent Review of the Waterhouse Tribunal will today publish an Issues Paper calling for views on the scope of the original Inquiry and whether or not it sufficiently investigated specific allegations of child abuse in North Wales care homes. Commenting on the call for further evidence, Mrs Justice Macur said: ‘To ensure I can [...]
The Professional Standards Authority invites the general public to share their experience of schemes run by BACP and Play Therapy UK
January 10, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Professional Standards Authority are inviting comment on the applications for accreditation to the Accredited Voluntary Registers Scheme (for talking therapies) by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and Play Therapy UK by 16 the January 2013. The invitation states: We are interested to hear any information or experiences you have had with them which [...]
Macur Review calls for information
January 9, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Mrs Justice Macur DBE, has announced the publication of an Issue Paper in relation to the Macur Review. The Macur Review is an independent review established by the Government in November 2012 to consider the scope of the Waterhouse Inquiry and whether or not it sufficiently investigated specific allegations of child abuse in North Wales care [...]
FACT submits its evidence to the CCRC review
December 21, 2012 from Leave a Comment
FACT has submitted its evidence to to the Criminal Cases Review Commission’s Review which can be accessed here We are grateful to Dr Ros Burnett for taking the lead on this task and for submitting this review on FACT’s behalf.
Justice Gap publish their on-line Christmas Newsletter
December 21, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Justice Gap have published their on-line Christmas Newsletter. Among the stories on www.thejusticegap.com this month, are: 1. A tribute to Tony Stock who died recently and was regarded as subject of one of the most outrageous miscarriages of justice of modern times: You can read The Curious Case of Tony Stock HERE. Earlier this week the Labour MP Barry Sheerman [...]
Press release: Assembly Members in Wales to receive an early Christmas Present – The Truth About Bryn Estyn.
December 3, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Balance, Fairness and the Burden of Proof: A Christmas Gift Worth Treasuring South Wales Against Wrongful Conviction (SWAWC), Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers (FACT), False Accusation Support Organisation (FASO) jointly call upon Welsh Assembly Members and relevant authorities to make themselves fully aware of the dangers which can attach to accusations of sexual abuse and the corresponding [...]
Leading investigative journalist Bob Woffinden looks at media hysteria and the misleading of the public
December 2, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This is an extract taken from Insidetime magazine. A growing number of people in Britain firmly believe that thiscountry would be fairer and more just, as well as more prosperous,were it not for the consistently malignant influence of the tabloid press. It is, however, of some importance to note that, as Richard Webster pointed out in his book The [...]
An independent review of the Waterhouse inquiry has begun.
November 28, 2012 from Leave a Comment
An independent review has begun of the Waterhouse inquiry, which investigated abuse in north Wales children’s homes in the 1970s and 1980s. The judge leading the review promised a “thorough” and “robust” examination of the three-year inquiry. Mrs Justice Macur added: “I will not draw any conclusions until I have considered all the evidence.” The [...]
Official report says BBC Newsnight programme report on alleged child abuse in north Wales failed to complete “basic journalistic checks”
November 15, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This item was first reported on the Daily Post website on the 13th November 2012 The BBC’s botched Newsnight programme on the North Wales child abuse scandal failed to complete “basic journalistic checks”, an official report concluded yesterday. And there was confusion about who had the ultimate responsibility for “final editorial sign-off” on the story [...]
Wales child abuse: Theresa May launches inquiry
November 8, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Home Secretary Theresa May has announced a new police inquiry into allegations of child abuse in north Wales in the 1970s and 1980s. Full story and Statement to the House of Commons
Theresa May to announce Wales abuse probe plans
November 7, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Plans for a fresh inquiry into allegations of child abuse in north Wales are to be outlined to MPs later by Home Secretary Theresa May. Full story BBC News, 6th November 2012