Jail for £96,000 benefit cheat Helen Ryan, who had £184,000 in savings – BBC News
“A mother-of-six has been jailed for claiming benefits when she had over £180,000 hidden in nine bank accounts.”
BBC News, 17th February 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: news
Bideford council to appeal against ban on prayers during meetings – The Guardian
“Until this week, perhaps, Bideford owed its greatest claim to fame to its 1682 witch trials when three women were sent to the gallows in the reputed last hangings for witchcraft in England.”
The Guardian, 17th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
£1m payout to child asylum seekers – The Independent
“The Home Office has paid compensation of more than £1m, plus £1m costs, in a case involving 40 child asylum seekers who were wrongly detained as adults, it has been reported.”
The Independent, 18th February 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Freedom of Information: this scaremongering leads to nothing but misinformation – The Guardian
“The information commissioner writes that Whitehall insiders’ criticisms of the Freedom of Information laws are nonsense.”
The Guardian, 19th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Secrecy laws ‘don’t harm the work of ministers’, says information commissioner – The Guardian
“Christopher Graham, the information commissioner, has hit out against the ‘distinguished Whitehall insiders’ who have called for the repeal of the freedom of information laws currently under review by parliament.”
The Guardian, 19th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Drugs smuggler ordered to pay £2.6m – The Independent
“A drugs gang ‘Mr Big’ who smuggled £25 million of cannabis into the UK from Holland in lorry loads of flowers has been ordered to pay £2.6 million.”
The Independent, 17th February 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Dragon’s Den fraudster sentenced – Crown Prosecution Service
“Mark James-Dawson, Crown Advocate for the CPS said:
‘This was a particularly brazen and audacious fraud, carried out on national television. Jean-Claude Baumgartner claimed to own software vital to the business opportunity he pitched on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, and went on to fabricate evidence of advance orders for his product from overseas retailers and the world famous department store, Harrods.'”
Crown Prosecution Service, 17th February 2012
Source: blog.cps.gov.uk
Trial by jury: the importance of “ordinary” jurors – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
“You can never write too much about the importance of trial by jury, particularly since there are moves afoot to restrict it. This month is no exception as Professor Richard Dawkins advocated a scientific resolution for criminal proceedings in The New Statesman, and The Times published an article by David Pannick QC effectively supporting the removal of jury trial in less serious cases.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 17th February 2012
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Teenage students lose high court battle to overturn tuition fees rise – Daily Telegraph
“Two students, Callum Hurley and Katy Moore, have failed in their High Court attempt to overturn the Government’s decision to allow universities to almost treble tuition fees.”
Daily Telegraph, 17th February 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Abu Qatada could be deported if UK can get guarantees on torture evidence – The Guardian
“The Islamist preacher Abu Qatada could be deported to Jordan if Strasbourg is given ‘watertight guarantees’ he will not be tried on evidence extracted under torture, Europe’s most senior human rights official has signalled.”
The Guardian, 16th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Caution on child trafficking review – The Independent
“The Children’s Commissioner has said it would have to ‘consider’ a possible review of how rescued trafficked children are cared for before agreeing to take it on.”
The Independent, 16th February 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Teenager convicted of attacking Malaysian student during London riots – The Guardian
“A teenager is facing jail for attacking a Malaysian student in an ‘exceptional’ act of violence during last summer’s riots in London.”
The Guardian, 16th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
#WithoutPrejudice 20 podcast: ABS and disruptives – Judicial advocacy assessment – Sun arrests – value of legal blogging – Charon QC
“On the panel tonight are regulars, Carl Gardner and David Allen Green and our guests Cat Griffiths, Editor of The Lawyer and Nichola Higgins, a practising barrister and former Chair of The Young Barristers Committee.”
Charon QC, 17th February 2012
Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com
“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.
Bristol bus driver Gavin Hill who drove into cyclist jailed – BBC News
“A bus driver who deliberately knocked a cyclist down in Bristol using his bus ‘as a weapon’ has been jailed.”
BBC News, 16th February 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Secret court procedures could damage UK’s reputation, critics claim – The Guardian
“The UK’s reputation as a ‘free and fair democracy’ could be damaged by excessive use of secret court procedures that the government aims to introduce, Northamptonshire police has warned.”
The Guardian, 16th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Judge criticises lawyer fees as “out of kilter” – Daily Telegraph
“A senior judge has warned there is ‘something out of kilter’ in the civil justice system after hearing a case in which lawyers were paid almost six times more than their client.”
Daily Telegraph, 16th February 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Courts given green light to hire own interpreters as ALS struggles to cope – The Guardian
“A £300m private contract providing interpreters to all courts across England and Wales has been partially abandoned two weeks after being launched.”
The Guardian, 16th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Bailiff industry changes proposed by Ministry of Justice – BBC News
“Changes to laws governing bailiffs in England and Wales, such as the creation of a code of conduct, are being proposed by the Ministry of Justice.”
BBC News, 17th February 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Huge increase in use of force at privately run young offender institution – The Guardian
“A huge increase in the use of force to restrain teenage boys at a privately run young offender institution has been sharply criticised by the chief inspector of prisons.”
The Guardian, 17th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Christians ‘aren’t above the law’, says equalities chief Trevor Phillips – Daily Telegraph
“Christians who want to be exempt from equality legislation are like Muslims trying to impose sharia on Britain, Trevor Phillips, the human rights watchdog, has declared.”
Daily Telegraph, 17th February 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
