News & Events: Regulatory & Disciplinary
Counsel representing Rifles Regiment at Inquest following fatal march
Four barristers from Pump Court Chambers (Tim Akers, Lucy Morell, Richard Tutt and Tom Wilkins) are currently appearing in an Article 2 inquest before Birmingham’s Senior Coroner, representing members of The Rifles Regiment. The inquest concerns the death of Cpl Joshua Hoole, who died on the hottest day of the year in 2016 on an […]
Judge rejects Health & Safety sentencing guidelines in a non-registration case
In a case involving a slimming clinic that had traded without being registered with the CQC, the CQC had argued that the Sentencing Council’s ‘Health and Safety Offences, Corporate Manslaughter and Food Safety and Hygiene Offences Definitive Guideline’ should apply. CQC had told District Judge Woollard who was sitting at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, that two […]
Five members appointed to list of Specialist Regulatory Advocates in Health & Safety and Environmental Law
Pump Court are delighted to announce that five members of chambers have been appointed to the list of Specialist Regulatory Advocates in Health & Safety and Environmental Law. Richard Tutt has been promoted to the A list; Mark Ruffell, Tim Akers and Ellie Fargin have been appointed to the B list and Andrew Stone has […]
Latest appointments to the HSE Panel
Pump Court Chambers is delighted to announce that five members have been approved to the list of Specialist Regulatory Advocates in Health & Safety and Environmental Law in this latest round of appointments. Richard Tutt has been promoted to the A List; Mark Ruffell, Tim Akers and Eleanor Fargin have been appointed to the B […]
From ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Good’ – turning round a Care Provider’s rating
Mark Ruffell was instructed to represent a well-established domiciliary care provider who faced having their registration being cancelled by the CQC. The background is a familiar tale of a service provider who had previously been rated as ‘Good’, finding that in a routine inspection in 2016 it ‘Required Improvement.’ In early 2017 it was inspected […]
Safety Errors can be very Expensive
Westminster City Council v The Zoological Society of London [ZSL] On 22nd October 2018 ZSL was fined a total of £40,000 with costs of £8000 for failing to ensure the safety of an employee, and linked, failing to have in place adequate a risk assessment. On 16th July 2016 a keeper using a step ladder […]
Peter Asteris and Tim Akers secure acquittals after five-month fraud trial at Southampton Crown Court
Peter Asteris and Tim Akers secured the acquittal of a client of all offences charged in the longest-running trial that has taken place at Southampton Crown Court. Over the course of five months, eleven defendants were on trial for charges of conspiracy to defraud and fraud in a Trading Standards prosecution that arose out of […]
Mark Ruffell successfully represents solicitor before Disciplinary Tribunal
Mark Ruffell has successfully mitigated on behalf of a solicitor who admitted contacting her imprisoned client by mobile phone; sending him 102 text messages in less than three months. In mitigation before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Mr Ruffell said that at the time his client set up her own practice, she did not appreciate “the […]
John Dyer joins Pump Court Chambers
Pump Court Chambers is delighted to announce the arrival of John Dyer as part of our Criminal and Regulatory Team expansion. An expert in all areas of criminal law, recent cases include murder, serious violence, kidnap, serious sexual offences (including rape, historic cases, offences involving children, youths and those with learning difficulties, indecent images), false […]
Fire Safety Regulations
Mark Ruffell, Head of Pump Court Chambers Regulatory and Disciplinary Team has recently presented a seminar on Fire Safety Regulation following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. The seminar is designed to assist Local Authorities and landlords with the various powers to maintain fire safety and highlights the consequences if the regulations are not maintained.
Dishonesty in Regulatory Proceedings
It is important to realise that those sitting in regulatory proceedings may have a wide and varied perception of the meaning of Dishonesty. That itself is not surprising. Those of us who cut our teeth in the wide environs of criminal law have come to realise that dishonesty as a concept lies on a spectrum. […]
Recent developments in disciplinary law
There have been two recent important cases, Squier and Enemuwe, on the vexed question of the use that professional disciplinary panels are entitled to make of Court of Appeal judgments in related criminal cases. Squier must now be regarded as the leading authority on the issue. The Queen (on the application of Squier) v General […]
