NHS Trust 1 and another v FG – WLR Daily

Posted September 9th, 2014 in consent, Court of Protection, health, law reports, medical treatment, mental health by sally

NHS Trust 1 and another v FG [2014] EWCOP 30; [2014] WLR (D) 384

‘Where a person lacked capacity to consent to proposed obstetric treatment, an NHS trust should make an application to the court: (1) where medical intervention proposed in the delivery of a baby amounted to serious medical treatment; (2) where there was a real risk of possible use of more than transient forcible restraint; (3) where there was a serious dispute as to what obstetric care was in the person’s best interests; and (4) where the proposed obstetric care and/or the proposed measures used to facilitate it would amount to a deprivation of liberty. That guidance was not intended to restrict the cases where trusts made an application to the court to only those cases which fell within those categories; it had always to remain open to trusts to make an application to the court if the individual circumstances of the case justified it.’

WLR Daily, 28th August 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

The public sector equality duty and priority need – NearlyLegal

‘In Kanu v Southwark LBC [2014] EWCA Civ 1085, the Court of Appeal considered whether the public sector equality duty added an additional obligation on housing officers when they came to consider whether an applicant had a priority need. As you will all know the public sector equality is an obligation placed on public authorities by s.149, Equality Act 2010 to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation; advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Broken down, when someone is disabled, the duty further requires an authority to have due regard to the need to take steps to take account of a person’s disability.’

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NearlyLegal, 7th September 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

A practical approach to advising vulnerable clients – The Future of Law

‘A vulnerable person is anyone aged 18 and over who needs assistance because of mental or other disability, age or illness, is unable to take care of him or herself and is unable to protect themselves against significant harm or exploitation.’

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The Future of Law, 5th September 2014

Source: www.blogs.lexisnexis.co.uk

Lack of Capacity – A Trap for Lawyers Removed? – Zenith PI Blog

‘Increasingly, nowadays, solicitors find themselves acting in personal injuries claims for people who may lack mental capacity. This may or may not be the result of the injuries that they have suffered. Unquestionably, the fact that persons may be at one stage fully capable of conducting litigation and at another stage not presents real difficulties for a solicitor. We have seen recently a settlement set aside because the Claimant, who did not have a Litigation Friend, but did not have capacity could not settle the claim. See the recent local case of Dunhill v Burgin in the Supreme Court, [2014] 1WLR 933. So solicitors face a potentially disastrous situation.’

Full story

Zenith PI Blog, 29th August 2014

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Dog lead mother Jacqueline Angrave jailed after appeal – BBC News

Posted September 3rd, 2014 in appeals, child abuse, child cruelty, mental health, news, psychiatric damage, sentencing by sally

‘A mother who walked her daughter to school on a dog lead during a “campaign of cruelty” has been jailed at the second time of asking.’

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BBC News, 3rd September 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Court of Protection Update (August 2014) – FAmily Law Week

Posted August 21st, 2014 in consent, Court of Protection, mental health, news by tracey

‘In this update Sally Bradley and Julia Townend, barristers of 4 Paper Buildings, focus on developments in the law concerning capacity to consent to sexual relations.’

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Family Law week, 20th August

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

In re X and others (Court of Protection Guidance: Deprivation of Liberty Cases) – WLR Daily

In re X and others (Court of Protection Guidance: Deprivation of Liberty Cases) [2014] EWCOP 25; [2014] WLR (D) 376

‘Guidance given on the approach to a “streamlined” process to deal with all deprivation of liberty (“DoL”) cases in a timely but just and fair way which was compliant with article 5 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.’

WLR Daily, 7th August 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Ordinary Residence: Can the ‘Shah test’ survive after Re A and the Cornwall Council case? – Family Law Week

Posted August 12th, 2014 in appeals, children, mental health, news, residence orders, Supreme Court by sally

‘Jennifer Perrins, barrister of 1 King’s Bench Walk, and Amy Rowe, associate solicitor with Bindmans LLP, consider whether the test of ordinary residence is distinctive from that of habitual residence.’

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Family Law Week, 12th August 2014

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

‘Paranoid’ husband killed wife over imaginary affair, inquest hears – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 7th, 2014 in domestic violence, families, inquests, married persons, mental health, news by sally

‘Jonathan Trenchard mistakenly thought his wife of 24 years, Derisa, was on the verge of leaving him for another man.’

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Daily Telegraph, 6th August 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Regina (M) v Crown Court at Kingston upon Thames – WLR Daily

Regina (M) v Crown Court at Kingston upon Thames [2014] WLR (D)  328

‘The power under section 35 of the Mental Health Act 1983, to remand to hospital for a report on an accused’s mental condition, could not be used in order to obtain evidence about whether the accused had the intention or the capacity to form the intention to commit an offence under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.’

WLR Daily, 17th July 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (O by her litigation friend the Official Solicitor) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Regina (O by her litigation friend the Official Solicitor) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 990 ;  [2014] WLR (D)  327

‘When determining the lawfulness of the continued immigration detention of a person with mental illness the court’s role was to supervise the decisions made by the Home Secretary for their compliance with the law, applying the Wednesbury test of unreasonableness, and was not that of a primary decision-maker such that it had to make its own choice between medical experts.’

WLR Daily, 17th July 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Home Office’s lost child abuse files: a victim’s story – The Guardian

‘When it emerged last week that 114 files containing allegations of child sex abuse had disappeared from the Home Office, survivors began to ask questions about whether their abuse had been deliberately covered up or ignored by the authorities.’

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The Guardian, 11th July 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Christopher Parry guilty of murdering wife Caroline Parry – BBC News

Posted July 9th, 2014 in married persons, mental health, murder, news by sally

‘A man has been found guilty of murdering his wife by shooting her twice in the back after she left him.’

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BBC News, 9th July 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Judge allows police to break down woman’s door for enforced caesarean – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 9th, 2014 in concealing birth, mental health, news, pregnancy, restraint, social services by sally

‘Pregnant woman has an irrational fear of hospitals but could die in child birth. Her third child was delivered using barbecue tongs and was found severely malnourished’

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Daily Telegraph, 7th July 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Woman sentenced for abandoning baby in Birmingham park – BBC News

Posted July 3rd, 2014 in birth, children, mental health, news, sentencing, suspended sentences by sally

‘A woman who dumped her newborn baby in a plastic bag in a Birmingham park has been spared prison.’

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BBC News, 3rd July 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Kingsley Burrell death: ‘insufficient evidence’ to prosecute – BBC News

‘Prosecutors say there is “insufficient evidence” to charge anyone after the death of a man detained under the Mental Health Act.’

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BBC News, 1st July 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

They think it’s all over … – NearlyLegal

‘We covered the case of Beech v Birmingham CC in the High Court here. The appeal to the Court of Appeal was heard on 11/6/2014 and judgement was given on 17/6/2014.

I will not repeat the facts here except to say that the appeal was narrowed down to only two grounds of challenge: namely that the notice to quit was procured from the late Mrs Warren under undue influence from the housing officer, Mr Pumphrey, and that it had been given when no formal mental capacity assessment had been carried out, in breach of the Code of Practice issued under s.42(1)(a) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (the ‘public law defence’).’

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NearlyLegal, 22nd June 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Khat ban: Why is it being made illegal? – BBC News

Posted June 23rd, 2014 in drug abuse, drug offences, families, mental health, news, sale of goods by sally

‘The leafy plant khat, which acts as a stimulant when chewed, is about to become a banned class C drug in the UK. But how big a problem is it and why are ministers making it illegal?’

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BBC News, 21st June 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ombudsman finds Bedfordshire man failed by council and health service – BBC News

‘Health and social care officials have been criticised for letting a severely mentally ill patient live in “squalor”.’

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BBC News, 12th June 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

A new test to determine who is fit for trial – Law Commission

‘How do we determine whether someone accused of a crime is physically and mentally fit to participate in a criminal trial? And what do we do if they are not? These are the questions being examined today as the Law Commission brings together leading experts in criminal law and mental health to exchange views at a consultation event at Leeds University.’

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Law Commission, 11th June 2014

Source: www.lawcommission.justice.gov.uk