‘On 30 April 2019, giving the lead judgment in the Court of Appeal, the Lord Chief Justice considered that the impact of a custodial sentence is likely to be heavier during the coronavirus pandemic than it would otherwise be, and that this was a factor that judges and magistrates can and should keep in mind when sentencing.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 12th May 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A “manipulative” child rapist who shared his abuse images with his uncle has been given a life sentence.’
BBC News, 7th May 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘It is always good to return to basics and remind ourselves of the fundamental principle that ‘findings of fact’ must be based on evidence, and this can include inferences that can properly be drawn from the evidence’. A reminder that it is not on suspicion or simply speculation. (RE A (Fact Finding: Disputed Findings) [2011] EWCA Civ 12 [2011] 1 FLR 1817.’
Becket Chambers, 5th May 2020
Source: becket-chambers.co.uk
‘On 7th April 2020, in one of the first hearings of its kind to be held remotely, the Court of Appeal set aside findings that a father perpetrated sexual abuse against his 9 year old daughter, X.’
Park Square Barristers, 29th April 2020
Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk
‘A paralegal who was working at the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has been banned from the profession after being jailed for online sexual offences involving children.’
Legal Futures, 1st May 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘On 16th April 2020, Sir Andrew McFarlane handed down a case management judgment on a public law case which may have significant implications for case management decisions until court services return to normal. The case in question was on the issue of fabricated or induced illness and the issue was whether the final hearing should proceed remotely. The Mother opposed the local authority care plan. It was listed for a fifteen day hearing addressing whether she had harmed her seven year old daughter. Despite the coronavirus pandemic both the Father and the local authority supported the hearing continuing remotely. The Mother’s Solicitors’ had assumed it would proceed with plans to take instructions by Zoom or in between each piece of evidence. There were to be three expert witnesses.’
No. 5 Chambers, 24th April 2020
Source: www.no5.com
‘A supply teacher has been jailed for eight and a half years for sexually assaulting six girls at a primary school in North Yorkshire, two years after similar allegations were dropped.’
The Guardian, 27th April 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Coronavirus has led to a “global slowdown” in the removal of internet child abuse images, say campaigners.’
BBC News, 27th April 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Defendants employed a 30 year old man “Hughes” as a kitchen porter from 15 October 1990 to 10 July 1991 at their school for girls. He was provided with accommodation on the school premises. The Defendants were not aware that Hughes had a criminal record, including offences of indecent assault on a female and unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 15. Had the Defendants been aware of these convictions, Hughes would not have been offered employment.’
39 Essex Chambers, 22nd April 2020
Source: www.39essex.com
‘Increased funding for children’s helplines is among the urgent measures being demanded by a group of cross-party MPs to tackle child sexual abuse during the coronavirus pandemic.’
The Guardian, 16th April 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘If you believe that an individual who works with children sexually assaulted you, but was never prosecuted for that allegation, it is understandable that you might wish to know whether that person has been placed on the formal list of persons barred from engaging in regulated activity with children, run by the Disclosure and Barring Service (“DBS”). But it is also understandable why the DBS might not wish to tell you (and thereby the public at large) who is or is not barred, and even more so why the individual accused would not wish that to be revealed. Who’s rights win out?’
Panopticon, 8th April 2020
Source: panopticonblog.com
‘A paedophile couple who met on Tinder have been jailed for 48 years after “sinking to the depths of depravity” to satisfy their own sexual urges.’
Daily Telegraph, 24th March 2020
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A top civil servant and a senior member of the royal household have both been criticised in an official report examining attempts by a victim of child sex abuse to have his abuser stripped of an honour.’
The Guardian, 14th March 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Nearly a decade after the abuse of vulnerable girls in Oxford began to be addressed, following years of negligence by police and social services, the last of the so-called Operation Bullfinch trials has ended. How did the sex offenders at the centre of the city’s depraved underworld finally come to face justice?’
BBC News, 13th March 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A watchdog has criticised the Met Police for being slow to learn lessons from a damning review of its probe into a Westminster paedophile ring.’
BBC News, 13th March 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The chief of London’s police has been cleared over her handling of an investigation into false claims of a VIP paedophile ring.’
BBC News, 9th March 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘An 81-year-old “predatory paedophile” has been jailed for sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl in a supermarket.’
BBC News, 9th March 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A church pastor has been jailed today (6 March 2020) for multiple (24) counts of child sexual abuse and rapes.’
Crown Prosecution Service, 6th March 2020
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
‘Police are overhauling the way they handle search warrants following the botched Operation Midland investigation into what was wrongly thought to be a Westminster paedophile ring.’
The Independent, 6th March 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘A serial rapist who attacked a string of victims aged between 11 and 71 could have been jailed weeks before he started the rampage, a report has revealed.’
The Independent, 5th March 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
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