EVENT: Goldsmiths – Pseudoscience, public health and the justice system

Posted October 4th, 2018 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘This talk presents an overview of pseudoscience within therapeutic contexts in the twenty-first century, juxtaposed with the risks posed to public health and the criminal justice system. It identifies the adverse outcomes that may arise from specific psychotherapeutic treatments and popular pseudo-scientific beliefs. The justice response and published cases are briefly explored. This talk concludes by advancing the case for increased therapeutic regulation and justice safeguards.’

Date: 29th January 2019, 6.00-7.30pm

Location: IGLT, Whitehead Building

Charge: Free

More information can be found here.

EVENT: Goldsmiths – Justice delayed or justice denied?

Posted October 4th, 2018 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘Sexual crime remains a matter of deep public concern and has received considerable scrutiny over the years. A pivotal event was the unprecedented reporting of sexual allegations that followed a TV documentary in October 2012 about the late Jimmy Savile leading to the Metropolitan Police forming Operation Yewtree. This talk seeks to place these events in context, to understand the factors that can impact upon the investigation and how it continues to shape the police approach to allegations reported sometimes years after the events. These types of allegation will always raise strong opinions among commentators. Some believe that such a serious crime as child abuse should always go before the courts regardless of time passed. There are others who state it is an affront to natural justice and that such prosecutions are unsafe. We will explore whether delays in reporting can secure safe and ethical prosecutions or inevitably lead to justice denied for the accused or the complainant.’

Date: 15th January 2019, 6.00-7.30pm

Location: IGLT, Whitehead Building

Charge: Free

More information can be found here.

EVENT: Goldsmiths – Risky Business – Why the Parole Board Releases Bad People

Posted October 4th, 2018 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘The Parole Board turned 50 in 2017 but it has recently found itself the subject of high profile stories about what appear to be dangerous and risky decisions to release high profile prisoners convicted of the most serious of crimes. Is this a new issue? How are these decisions made and how on earth can murderers, robbers or rapists ever be safely released to the community? What are the tools to achieve this and how much can Parole assessments be relied upon to predict risk?

In this talk prison lawyer Emma McClure lays out how the Parole Board operates in practice; the way risk assessments are conducted and the problems that exist in the current system in trying to make evidence-based decisions and the management of society’s most dangerous people within a problem-ridden criminal justice system.’

Date: 11th December 2018, 6.00-7.00pm

Location: IGLT, Whitehead Building

Charge: Free

More information can be found here.

EVENT: Goldsmiths – How to increase the value of eyewitness evidence

Posted October 4th, 2018 in Forthcoming events by sally

‘To inform a criminal investigation, police may ask an eyewitness to that crime to try to identify the perpetrator from a lineup. Eyewitnesses, however, have a bad reputation for being unreliable. That reputation is due to, in part, the fact that eyewitness researchers once viewed the relationship between the accuracy of an eyewitness’s initial identification and the confidence expressed in that identification as weak. Lab-based and field studies alike show that identifications made with high confidence are highly accurate whereas identifications made with low confidence are much less so. Confidence expressed during the initial procedure is therefore diagnostic of accuracy. In fact, it is by far the best predictor of accuracy. And when taken into account, the data challenge the longstanding notion that eyewitnesses are unreliable. The data also provide a way for the criminal justice system to improve the probative value of eyewitness evidence.’

Date: 27th November 2018, 6.00-7.30pm

Location: IGLT, Whitehead Building

Charge: Free

More information can be found here.

Specialist financial crime unit to crack down on prison gangs – Ministry of Justice

Posted October 4th, 2018 in crime, money laundering, press releases, prisons by tracey

‘A new specialist unit will identify and freeze bank accounts linked to organised crime behind bars, Justice Secretary David Gauke announced today.’

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 2nd October 2018

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Tensions in Legal Services Act coming to fore, says review – Legal Futures

Posted October 4th, 2018 in legal services, news by tracey

‘The world when the Legal Services Act was drawn up “simply does not exist in the same way now” and the inherent tensions in the Act are becoming “increasingly apparent”, the first paper from the independent review of legal regulation has concluded.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 4th October 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Gang member jailed for London acid attack – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted October 4th, 2018 in conspiracy, hazardous substances, press releases, robbery, sentencing by tracey

‘The ringleader of a gang who sprayed corrosive cleaning fluid in the face of a shopkeeper during a failed robbery has been jailed for ten years, with a further four years on licence.’

Full press release

Crown Prosecution Service, 3rd October 2018

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Banker’s wife may lose property worth millions after UK court ruling – The Guardian

Posted October 4th, 2018 in money laundering, national crime agency, news, proceeds of crime by tracey

‘The wife of a foreign banker faces losing UK property worth millions of pounds unless she can explain the source of her wealth, following a judgment at the high court.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 3rd October 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Westminster attack: PC Keith Palmer could have been saved if Met put armed police on Parliament gates, coroner finds – The Independent

Posted October 4th, 2018 in firearms, inquests, London, news, parliament, police by tracey

‘”Shortcomings in security” outside the Houses of Parliament contributed to the death of a police officer during the Westminster attack, a coroner has concluded.’

Full Story

The Independent, 3rd October 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Chiropractor disciplined after telling woman her daughter was pregnant – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 4th, 2018 in disciplinary procedures, disclosure, health, news, pregnancy by tracey

‘A gossiping chiropractor faced a disciplinary hearing after he told a patient’s mother that her daughter was pregnant.’

Full Story

Daily Telegraph, 3rd Otober 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

UK watchdogs demand transparency from Facebook amid child trafficking claim – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 4th, 2018 in children, internet, news, trafficking in human beings by tracey

‘UK child protection organisations have called for Facebook to improve transparency on its site, after a new lawsuit in America claimed that it is being used to lure children into the sex trade. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said Facebook should be forced to report how many child abusers it identifies online to help measure the scale of the problem.’

Full Story

Daily Telegraph, 3rd Ocotber 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Court upholds UK cap on number of child refugees – The Guardian

Posted October 4th, 2018 in appeals, children, consultations, immigration, news, refugees by tracey

‘The government’s decision to cap the number of unaccompanied child refugees who can be brought into the UK has been upheld by the court of appeal. But three senior judges said there had been a breach of the “duty of fairness” in the process because those refused entry were not given any reasons for being denied permission.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 3rd October 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Arthur Collins loses appeal against Dalston acid attack sentence – BBC News

Posted October 4th, 2018 in appeals, hazardous substances, news, sentencing by tracey

‘A man who threw acid across a packed London nightclub has lost an appeal against his 20-year jail sentence.’

Full Story

BBC News, 3rd October 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Man extradited from Pakistan over eight murders in 2002 Huddersfield house fire – The Independent

Posted October 4th, 2018 in arson, extradition, murder, news, trials by tracey

‘A murder suspect has been extradited to the UK from Pakistan to face trial over a 2002 Yorkshire house fire that left eight people dead.’

Full Story

The Independent, 3rd October 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk