Leanne Meecham death: Stepfather guilty of murder – BBC News
‘A man has been found guilty of the “violent and vicious” murder of his stepdaughter, who was also his former lover.’
BBC News, 13th August 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: alcoholism
Tackling alcohol-rated offending – are “Sobriety tags” the answer? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
‘The first “sobriety tag” has been fitted to a man who had been found guilty of drunken affray. The introduction of the tags, which monitor consumption of alcohol by the wearer, is part of a year-long pilot scheme to tackle alcohol-related reoffending.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 14th August 2014
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Plans to relax licensing laws lambasted by doctors and alcohol groups – The Guardian
‘Ministers are under fire because of plans to let the Women’s Institute, bed and breakfasts and charities start selling alcohol, which doctors and local councils warn could worsen Britain’s drink problem.’
The Guardian, 23rd June 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Regina v Williams (Dean Arthur) – WLR Daily
Regina v Williams (Dean Arthur): [2013] WLR (D) 497
‘For the purposes of establishing the defence of diminished responsibility, the concept of mental responsibility, within section 2(1) of the Homicide Act 1957, described the extent to which a person’s acts were the choice of a free and rational mind.’
WLR Daily, 13th December 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Crank’ admits making explosives in Cheltenham garage – BBC News
“An electrical engineer described by a judge as a ‘crank’ has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting making explosives in a lock-up garage.”
BBC News, 17th July 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Woman sentenced for killing lover – The Independent
“A hammer-wielding pregnant woman who battered her lover in the head was jailed today for his killing.”
The Independent, 14th November 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Stoke Newington cigarette row: Two jailed over killing – BBC News
“Two people have been jailed over the killing of a housemate in north London.”
BBC News, 14th November 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
How a specialist court is helping families riven by addiction – The Guardian
“The family drug and alcohol court is making a difference in breaking the intergenerational cycle of self-destructive behaviour.”
The Guardian, 26th May 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Hair test ‘nearly cost mother baby’ – BBC News
“A hair test on a mother who nearly lost her child over alcohol allegations has been criticised by the High Court – potentially calling into question some tests done in similar cases.”
BBC News, 1st December 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Exeter knife woman taunted by park boys escapes jail – BBC News
“A woman who threatened a group of young boys with a knife in a Devon park, has been spared jail.”
BBC News, 7th September 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
All-day drink law was a mistake, says Sir Hugh Orde – BBC News
“The 24-hour drink licensing laws were a ‘mistake’, Association of Chief Police Officers president Sir Hugh Orde says.”
BBC News, 1st August 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Drugs test for claimants sparks row over unemployment benefits – The Guardian
“Controversial government plans to allow Jobcentre staff to ‘order’ benefit claimants to undergo tests for drug and alcohol dependency are in breach of European law and unlikely to work, according to leading addiction charities.”
The Guardian, 27th September 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Regina v Stewart (James) – Times Law Reports
Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
“Further guidance should be given to juries in murder trials as to the defence of diminished responsibility where the only basis for the alleged abnormality of mind arose from alcohol dependency syndrome without discernible brain damage.”
The Times, 20th July 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
R v Stewart – WLR Daily
R v Stewart [2009] EWCA Crim 593; [ 2009] WLR (D) 244
“A jury in a murder trial considering the defence of diminished responsibility by a defendant suffering from alcohol dependency syndrome should not be directed to look at each drink consumed prior to the killing and decide whether it was taken voluntarily or involuntarily since, at some levels of severity, what might appear to be voluntary drinking might be inseparable from the defendant’s underlying syndrome.”
WLR Daily, 16th July 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Regina v Wood (No 2) – Times Law Reports
Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
“A defendant could be sentenced to life imprisonment for manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility and, when fixing the minimum term, guidance in murder cases was relevant.”
The Times, 8th April 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
R v Wood – WLR Daily
R v Wood [2008] EWCA Crim 1305; [2008] WLR (D) 204
“In addressing a plea of diminished responsibility in the context of alcohol dependency syndrome, the jury must consider whether it had been established that the defendant’s syndrome was of such an extent and nature that it constituted an abnormality of mind induced by disease or illness, and, if that were established, whether the defendant’s mental responsibility for his actions at the time of the killing was substantially impaired as a result of the syndrome.”
WLR Daily, 25th June 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
