“The UK supreme court has cut the compensation awarded to a life-sentence prisoner whose original release was delayed from £10,000 to £6,500, in a ruling that will nonetheless lead to payouts for scores of convicted murderers, rapists and other violent prisoners.” Full Story: The Guardian here
The UK Supreme Court cuts the compensation awarded to a life-sentence prisoner
May 8, 2013 from Leave a Comment
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 [...]
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.
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 [...]
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 [...]
High Court clarifies entitlement to compensation on the grounds that there has been a “miscarriage of justice”
January 26, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The High Court has heard several judicial reviews following the decision of the Supreme Court in R (Adams) v Secretary of State for Justice; Re MacDermott, and Re McCartney [2011] UKSC 18, which examined issues to do with compensation claims for those wrongly convicted. The question faced by the High Court was whether and, in what circumstances, a [...]
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 [...]
Court hears of collusion and quashes sex offence conviction
December 10, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This item written by Steve Butcher appears on the age.com website and refers to a judgement in the State of Victoria’s Appeal Court (Australia) A woman jailed in 2010 for sex offences 33 years ago against two boys aged eight has been freed after Victoria’s highest court quashed her convictions and acquitted her. Three Court [...]
Garden Court Prison Law Team presents the fourth issue of its ‘Prison Law Bulletin’
November 30, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Garden Court Prison Law Team have published the fourth issue of its ‘Prison Law Bulletin’. The Bulletin is published in blog and newsletter format and contains a round-up of recent case law, both domestic & international. It sometimes features a comment and analysis section on a “hot topic”. This issue looks at the latest developments in [...]
Chief Inspector of Prisons critical of Wakefield Jails work with sex offenders and those who maintain their innocence
October 18, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Little or no effective work is being done with some of the most serious sex offenders behind bars, the chief inspector of prisons says in a report published on Friday. Nick Hardwick says in the report that almost half the 750 men held at Wakefield high security prison, many of whom are serious sex offenders, [...]
Prison and Probation Ombudsmen for England Annual Report 2011-2012
October 2, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Prison and Probation Ombudsmen for England has presented his Annual Report 2011-2012, Cm 8429 (PDF which can be found here )
The Mysterious MAPPA
May 3, 2012 from Leave a Comment
There is a very good article by Emma Davies and Lucy Batten, solicitors from Hine Solicitors in this months Insidetime issue. The mysterious MAPPA… MAPPA applies to a large number of inmates in England and Wales and you may therefore have previously heard the term or seen it referred to in reports compiled by the Probation [...]
Court of Appeal gives guidance on SOPO controls and and human rights
August 26, 2011 from 2 Comments
The Daily Telegraph (22nd August) have given extensive coverage (see below) to a report of case in the Court of Appeal which, they say, gives paedophiles the right to unsupervisedaccess to their own children because it would breach their human rights to keep them apart. Judges weaken rules on paedophiles The Court of Appeal has [...]
The Association of Prison Lawyers (APL) and Progressing Prisoners Maintaining Innocence (PPMI) consider the dilema of maintaining innocence
June 29, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The Association of Prison Lawyers (APL) and Progressing Prisoners Maintaining Innocence (PPMI) consider the dilema of maintaining innocence. Our attention has been drawn to a conference jointly organised by the Association of Prison Lawyers (APL) and Progressing Prisoners Maintaining Innocence (PPMI), which was held at Matrix Chambers on the 25 January 2011. The conference consisted [...]
Author Nik Greene wins literary award after being falsely accused of being a paedophile
June 22, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This article first appeared on Your Thanet here Author Nik Greene wins literary award after being falsely accused of being a paedophile When Nik Greene’s adopted daughter falsely accused him of sexually assaulting her, he was instantly labelled a paedophile and sent to a dangerous French prison. While there he was beaten, raped and even [...]
Prisoners Maintaining their Innocence: January conference report
June 7, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to a summary of the proceedings of a joint conference organised by the Association of Prison Lawyers (APL) and Progressing Prisoners Maintaining Innocence (PPMI) which was hosted by Matrix Chambers, London, in January 2011. The summary was written by Gabe Tan, Casework manager for the Innocence Projects. The conference heard [...]
Former prisoner challenges licence conditions – case judgement
May 30, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to a recent case in which deals with a released prisoners right to challenge conditions imposed upon him on his release. In this case it was necessary to consider whether they were so onerous that they amounted to a deprivation of his liberty? Did they constitute an unnecessary and disproportionate [...]
Government looses its final appeal against giving prisoners the right to vote
April 13, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This news item has been extracted from the Guardian Online (here) on the 12th April The Government has lost its final appeal against giving prisoners the right to vote following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. A five-judge panel said the UK must now draw up proposals within six months to end [...]
Sex offenders in England and Wales are set to be given the right to appeal against having to register with the police for life.
February 17, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This is an extract from a news report on the BBC website Thousands of sex offenders in England and Wales are set to be given the right to appeal against having to register with the police for life. Home Secretary Theresa May said the government would make the “minimum possible changes” to comply with a [...]
A man who has always maintained he was wrongly convicted of murdering his pregnant wife has been released from prison on parole
December 24, 2010 from Leave a Comment
A man who has always maintained he was wrongly convicted of murdering his pregnant wife has been released from prison on parole. Eddie Gilfoyle, 49, was found guilty of killing his wife Paula, who was found hanged in the garage of the couple’s home in Upton, Wirral in 1992. Prosecutors claimed he had fooled the [...]
An office worker who falsely cried rape is facing jail after her lies led to an innocent man being arrested
October 29, 2010 from Leave a Comment
An office worker who falsely cried rape is facing jail after her lies led to an innocent man being arrested. Samantha Merry, 21, who calls herself ‘Sexy Sam’ on her MySpace web page, admitted making up the allegation against a 37-year-old man. The suspect was arrested at his home and faced a four-month police investigation, [...]
Three solicitors were today suing police for wrongful imprisonment after falling foul of strict prison regulations
October 21, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Solicitors sue police for wrongful imprisonment Three solicitors were today suing police for wrongful imprisonment after falling foul of strict prison regulations. The trio were among five held at Brixton prison, in south London, in a mix-up over which lockers to use for their personal possessions. They have launched a challenge against the Metropolitan Police [...]
Head Looses Appeal
February 1, 2010 from Leave a Comment
A Pembrokeshire head teacher convicted of nine counts of sexually assaulting girls in his care has lost an appeal against his conviction. Mrs Justice Swift said the three appeal court judges had “scrutinised with considerable care” but could not grant David Thorley’s appeal. Thorley, 57, from Carmarthen, was jailed for two years in July after [...]