News & Events: Criminal
The evolution of PPE: remuneration in a digital age
The definition of “pages of prosecution evidence” (“PPE”) in Schedule 2 of the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) Order 2007 (“the Funding Order”) has evolved over time. There has, of late, been a proliferation of decisions of cost judges on the subject and it is outside the scope of this article to consider them all in […]
The curse of CCC
The Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (Criminal Courts Charge) Regulations 2015 continue to drive judicial despair and resignations from the lay bench. Which charge should apply when a Defendant pleads to a summary-only offence in the Crown Court? My client had been initially charged with one either-way offence (affray) and three summary only offences. At […]
Prioritising the Vulnerable within the Criminal Justice System
The extent to which the Criminal Justice system is changing its priorities with regard to witnesses was highlighted notably in a case in Winchester Crown Court. The case involved a complainant who is a vulnerable witness with mental health difficulties and had been assessed as requiring an intermediary. Despite this having been identified long ago […]
Defendant denies murdering elderly parents’
Timothy Crook is standing trial for the murder of his elderly parents in 2007 at Bristol Crown Court. The bodies of the couple were found hidden underneath wheelie bins, when a police officer carried out a welfare check at the Lincoln home of their son. Post mortem results revealed that Mr & Mrs Crook had […]
Man accused of killing a woman by forcing a shampoo bottle into her abdomen
A jury at Winchester Crown Court has heard how a 51 year old woman has died from internal injuries two days after being admitted to hospital. Addressing the jury Mr Justice Akenhead said “You will see evidence which some of you, if not all of you will, find shocking and disturbing.” On Friday April 18th […]
Successful discharge of an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order
The applicant, represented by Matthew Scott on a direct access basis, had received a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (‘SOPO’) in late 2009 for offences committed in 2007 and 2008. The order was expressed to last indefinitely. The Recorder of Winchester, HHJ Cutler CBE was invited to discharge the SOPO under s.108 of the Sexual Offences […]
Criminal team private fee scheme
In the past 12 to 18 months Pump Court Chambers have seen a considerable increase in the number of privately funded Criminal Crown Court cases. This is in no small part due to the implementation of Universal Credit legal aid means testing. As a direct consequence of this, the Criminal Practice Group have devised a […]
Can our legal system cope with Social Media?
With Professor Cheryl Thomas, Simon Phillips QC and Carl Gardner, Charles Parry was asked to speak to students of the Inner temple on ‘Can our legal system cope with Social Media?’ The question largely addressed issues surrounding jury management in the context of social media and internet research. Charles had represented Dr Dora Dallas, a […]
Sentence reduced upon appeal
Sarah Jones has successfully appealed a sentence of 26 years’ imprisonment for offences of rape against two young girls in the court of appeal on the case of R v Nash. The court of appeal accepted Defence submissions that although the offending had been extremely serious against the younger sisters of the Defendant’s wife a […]
Paediatrician goes on trial for alleged historical rapes
A Court has heard how a consultant paediatrician allegedly raped and indecently assaulted young girls in the 1970s and 80s thinking he was “bomb-proof” because no one would believe a child over him, a jury has been told. Former paediatrician Michael Salmon, 79, who worked at hospitals including Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, which have been […]
