This is an extract from an article that appeared in The Independent on the 16th May 2013. Criminal suspects who have been arrested should not normally be named until they are charged, the Home Secretary has said. In a letter to the recently formed professional standards body, the College of Policing, Theresa May said she [...]
Home Secretary say criminal suspects who have been arrested should not normally be named until they are charged
May 17, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Article in The Times on the dangers of generating false claims of abuse
May 16, 2013 from Leave a Comment
There is an excellent article in the Times (subscription required) dated 10th May 2013 concerning the potential for false claims of abuse being made by those who had an association with Jimmy Saville (or any other celebrity or person). Well Worth reading.
After Savile: policing as entertainment. Article by Frank Furedi
May 15, 2013 from Leave a Comment
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 [...]
Home secretary orders probe over police compensation
April 19, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This item first appeared on the BBC website on the 18th May Home Secretary Theresa May has said she wants to know if the case of a Norfolk police officer suing a garage owner was “symptomatic” of a claims culture among officers. Mrs May told the Home Affairs Select Committee it was important to find [...]
Serious consideration to be given to keeping the names of suspects confidential until they are charged
April 9, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Daily Telegraph report (here) that serious consideration is being given to keeping the names of suspects confidential until they are charged. Britain’s police chiefs are considering proposals that would mean names were only released once someone has been charged with an offence. The plans follow recommendations made by Lord Justice Leveson in his report [...]
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 [...]
Solicitors to challenge to Sex Offenders Registration Rules
March 12, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The following Media release has been issued by Quality Solicitors Jordans X v Secretary of State for Home Department March 7, 2013 It has been confirmed that a challenge to the requirement of convicted Sex Offenders to provide details of their bank accounts and credit cards will be heard by the Administrative Court at Birmingham [...]
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 [...]
The Independent Police Complaints Commission to be given more staff to deal with complains against the Police.
February 18, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The Home Office have issued a Press release stating that the Independent Police Complaints Commission is to be expanded to deal with all serious complaints against the police, the Home Secretary announced today. The move was revealed as part of series of measures designed to ensure the highest standards of integrity in policing. In addition to the expansion [...]
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 [...]
Jimmy Saville Scandal: How will affect future abuse cases?
January 12, 2013 from Leave a Comment
There is an interesting article on the BBC website which discusses how future cases of [alleged] child abuse might be handled by the police and prosecuting authorities. Jimmy Savile’s ability to commit hundreds of serious sexual offences inside public institutions, “hiding in plain sight” as Friday’s police and NSPCC report (here) on his crimes puts [...]
Court of appeal quashes convictions of five men for murder
January 10, 2013 from Leave a Comment
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 [...]
Criminal defence lawyers against the media – a lost battle
January 7, 2013 from Leave a Comment
There is a very interesting and thought provoking article by Joseph Kotrie-Monson, in the January Inside Time newspaper (here) in which he argues that Press reporting of criminal cases has become massively biased and anti-defendant in recent years and, in some instances, makes it very difficult to obtain a fair trial. In the article Joseph Kotrie-Monson of Mary Monson Solicitors [...]
HMIC says the “very legitimacy” of the police service risks being undermined unless more is done to take issues of integrity more seriously.
December 19, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This item is an extract taken from the Guardian website here Police officers have been warned that the “very legitimacy” of the service risks being undermined unless more is done to take issues of integrity more seriously, a watchdog says. Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary (HMIC) says integrity, such as how police deals with the [...]
Prosecutors and police have no business in pronouncing that the late Liberal Democrat MP Cyril Smith guilty of abuse.
December 5, 2012 from Leave a Comment
There is a long but interesting article by Luke Gittos in Spiked Online, stating that Prosecutors and police had no business in pronouncing that the late Liberal Democrat MP Cyril Smith had abused children. Prosecutors and police had no business in pronouncing that the late Liberal Democrat MP Cyril Smith had abused children. Greater Manchester Police [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
CPS issue a media statement in relation to Cyril Smith
November 28, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) have issued a Press release in relation to allegations made against Cyril Smith which can be accessed here
Anonymity rules comes into force
October 2, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Members of the public, the media and the police are to be banned from next automatically naming teachers in cases of alleged abuse. The power, enshrined in the 2011 Education Act, has been introduced to protect innocent teachers against malicious claims from pupils and parents, but critics fear that the legislation has gone too far and [...]
IPCC highlights police sex cases – The Independent
September 25, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This is an extract from a report in the Independent on 20th September Too many police officers and staff have taken sexual advantage of members of the public they were supposed to be helping, a watchdog said today. More than 50 cases over the last two years showed corrupt behaviour by officers which was considered [...]
Home Office publish report into why a man was wrongly accused of rape following DNA error
September 20, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Home Office have published a report (here) by the Forensic Regulator into the circumstances of a complaint received from the Greater Manchester Police on 7 March 2012 regarding DNA evidence provided by LGC Forensics. The report concludes: that a man was the innocent victim of avoidable contamination from an unrelated case that did contain his DNA. the contamination [...]
Former Met police officer admits to faking police reports, failing to pass on evidence and other serious errors
September 17, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This is an extract from a story published in the Guardian on 12 September 2012 An investigator from the Metropolitan police specialist sex crimes unit has admitted failing to investigate the alleged rapes and sexual assaults of 12 women by faking police reports, failing to pass on forensic evidence and not interviewing suspects. The activities of detective [...]
More than 60 allege abuse at former Suffolk school
September 17, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This is an extract from the EADT online newspaper here published 13th September 2102 Detectives are investigating abuse claims by more than 60 former pupils of a Suffolk school in what is now believed to be the county’s largest inquiry of its kind. Ex-students of Oakwood School in Stowmarket, which closed in 2000, have made various [...]