Andrew Barlow: Serial rapist due to be released despite appeal – BBC News
‘A man who was jailed for 13 rapes is due to be released despite an appeal from the justice secretary.’
BBC News, 3rd February 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: expert witnesses
Why are there so few registered psychologists working as expert witnesses in private law proceedings – Family Law Week
‘Dr Mark Hardiman, Chartered Psychologist based in The Psychology Clinic of East Anglia. Alongside his work in public law, in recent years he has developed a special interest and practice relating to high conflict post separation parenting and private law psychological assessment.’
Family Law Week, 18th January 2023
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Disaster Avoidance For Experts with Margaret Bowron KC – Law Pod UK
‘In this episode, Emma-Louise Fenelon speaks to Margaret Bowron KC about how to avoid disastrous expert evidence.’
Law Pod UK, 9th January 2022
Source: audioboom.com
Healthcare Enabled Fraud – 3PB
‘Keoghs recently wrote about their triple success in defeating claims for psychological injury arising out of road traffic accidents. The common denominator of the three claims was that each of the Claimants sought to rely upon the medical evidence of a specific Consultant Psychologist. Sharan Sanghera acted for the Defendant in one of those Claims, her comment on the case appears below.’
3PB, 13th December 2022
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
F v M: Parental Alienation and Unregulated Experts – Family Law Week
‘Roshni Popli, barrister at Four Brick Court, considers the lessons of a recent judgment highlighting the need for greater transparency in the instruction of experts.’
Family Law Week, 14th December 2022
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
UK woman whose children were removed against their wishes loses appeal – The Guardian
‘A mother whose children were removed from her care against their wishes after an unregulated psychologist said she had “alienated” them from their father has lost a high court appeal to have her case reopened.’
The Guardian, 7th December 2022
Source: www.theguardian.com
Prenatal paternity testing for court: your questions answered – Family Law Week
‘Casey Randall, Head of DNA at AlphaBiolabs, answers some of the most common questions about prenatal paternity testing for legal matters.’
Family Law Week, 14th November 2022
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Clicks, pops and nuisance – Nearly Legal
‘Tejani v Fitzroy Place Residential Ltd (2022) EWHC 2760 (TCC). This is another in what appears to be becoming a series (see previous post) of very expensive but failed nuisance claims. I will not go into great detail, but there are two lessons to be drawn.’
Nearly Legal, 6th November 2022
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
New powers for forensic science regulator by end of March – Law Society’s Gazette
‘Forensic science witnesses in criminal justice cases can expect to be subject to the Forensic Science Regulator’s statutory regime by the end of March 2023, incumbent regulator Gary Pugh said today.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 4th November 2022
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Case commentary in finding of fact hearing – By Mollie Briggs – Park Square Barristers
‘The case involved a fact-finding hearing where the local authority applied for care orders in respect of two children, after the youngest child sustained significant brain injuries following a fall from the father’s arms whilst he was holding the child and picking up the older sibling.’
Park Square Barristers, 18th October 2022
Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk
Diagnosis and Management of Strokes in Emergency and Primary Care Settings – Ropewalk Chambers
‘The diagnosis and treatment of suspected strokes and transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) is a very broad topic. Depending on the context, determination of the issue of breach of duty is likely to involve consideration of relevant NICE guidance and individual NHS Trust guidelines. It is invariably fact-sensitive and involves detailed expert evidence. Even when breach of duty is not in issue and/or is established in evidence, causation is likely to be contentious in all but the clearest of cases due to the absence of definitive evidence or trial data regarding the efficacy of anticoagulant treatment.’
Ropewalk Chambers, 11th October 2022
Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk
‘Claims I had sexsomnia destroyed my rape case’ – BBC News
‘Jade McCrossen-Nethercott’s rape case was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) because of claims she had an episode of a rare sleep condition called “sexsomnia”. As a result, the CPS no longer believed they could secure a conviction. But Jade challenged the decision and spent months reinvestigating.’
BBC News, 5th October 2022
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Firm fails in bid for injunction to stop use of letter it disclosed in error – Legal Futures
‘The High Court has refused a leading law firm an injunction to stop an opposing party making a use of a document it disclosed by mistake that cast doubt on an expert’s independence.’
Legal Futures, 26th August 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Family Public Law … Choosing an Expert – Becket Chambers
‘When it is decided that it is “necessary” – and that is the first question to be decided by the Court (Practice Direction 25 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010) – this should be as early as possible within the start of proceedings.’
Becket Chambers, 11th August 2022
Source: becket-chambers.co.uk
Family Justice Council makes recommendations on avoiding conflicts of interest using psychologist expert witnesses in cases of alleged alienation – Local Government Lawyer
‘Interim guidance from the Family Justice Council (FJC), published last month, has highlighted how to avoid conflicts of interest when using psychologist expert witnesses in family court cases involving allegations of alienating behaviours.’
Local Government Lawyer, 20th June 2022
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Questions over use of ‘psychological experts’ in parental alienation cases – The Guardian
‘Mothers are having their children taken away by court-appointed “psychological experts” who are unregulated and do not have the necessary qualifications, the Association of Clinical Psychologists UK has warned.’
The Guardian, 12th June 2022
Source: www.theguardian.com
Experts on Trial – 4KBW
‘Chris Bryden and Georgia Whiting write in the April edition of Construction Law, examining case law surrounding the role of expert witnesses, which suggests a worrying trend towards a loosening of the established principles of how experts should behave, and are instructed.’
4KBW, 4th May 2022
Source: www.4kbw.co.uk
Claimant Benevolence in a Clinical Negligence Setting, by Tom Bourne-Arton – Farrar’s Building
‘Tom Bourne-Arton reviews the relatively recent case of Richins v Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust [2022] EWHC 847 (QB) in which HHJ Kelly had to consider, amongst other matters, whether it was appropriate to apply “Claimant benevolence” otherwise known as “Keefe benevolence” when determining causation.’
Farrar's Building, 4th May 2022
Source: www.farrarsbuilding.co.uk
Acoustic shock claim back on after ‘fundamental error’ – Law Society’s Gazette
‘The Court of Appeal has revived an acoustic shock claim after a finding that the defendant’s evidence was incorrect and the judge was considering the wrong issue.’
Law Society's Gazette, 5th May 2022
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
