‘The police force investigating the Guildford pub bombs has been accused of a conflict of interest after it took legal action to keep archives closed. More than 700 files on the 1974 IRA bombs had been due to open this year but were retained by the Home Office. Inquest papers have shown Surrey Police applied for the files to stay closed.’
BBC news, 2nd December 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A man who dragged a police officer along the ground as he held the car door and punched another in the head has been jailed.’
BBC News, 30th November 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘He was 25, a father and a car mechanic. Five minutes after being stopped by police on 15 June 2017, he was lying unresponsive on the ground. After an inquest and inquiry, family and friends are still fighting for justice’
The Guardian, 29th November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘An alliance of women’s organisations is calling for radical reforms to address the “disastrous state” of rape investigations and prosecutions, including a ministerial lead, a commission on juries and a ban on the use of sexual history evidence.’
The Guardian, 30th November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘“This was one of a pair of recent cases, which tend to suggest that police officers and those who aspire to be police officers are still held to a higher standard than the public they are sworn to protect. It was a sentencing appeal following a plea of guilty by a former police officer, who had made use of information gathered in the course of investigating a drink driving offence to get in touch with the defendant and subsequently enter into a long-term personal relationship with her. He resigned from the police and pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office. His appeal against the sentence prompted the Court of Appeal to refer to earlier authorities on sentencing for misconduct in a public office by serving police officers and gave the court an opportunity to emphasise the gravity of the offence, whilst at the same time proving that the quality of mercy is not strained …”’
CrimeCast.Law, 26th November 2020
Source: crimecast.law
‘The government has apologised for a “20-year cover-up” over the death of 11-month-old Elizabeth Dixon, whose parents have fought an unrelenting battle for the truth.’
The Guardian, 26th November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A police officer who scanned a barcode for carrots worth 7p to purchase a £9.95 box Krispy Kreme doughnuts has been sacked for gross misconduct.’
The Independent, 26th November 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Uncovering that my partner was ‘Mark Kennedy’ was traumatic, but there’s hope in being part of something bigger than myself.’
The Guardian, 25th November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The court held that whereas reasonable grounds for suspecting someone has committed an offence sets a low evidential hurdle, the second requirement for an arrest to be lawful (for the Police to prove that there were reasonable grounds to believe the arrest was “necessary”) sets a comparatively high evidential hurdle and the police could not objectively evidence that the arrest was “necessary” when the GP would have been prepared to voluntarily attend the police station and the reasons given by the Police for the “necessity” of arresting the GP were baseless.’
Parklane Plowden Chambers, 11th November 2020
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘Police forces can resume handing out £10,000 fines for breaches of coronavirus regulations, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has said following discussions with the government.’
The Guardian, 17th November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Britain’s biggest police force must hire 40% of new recruits from ethnic minority backgrounds, while officers will have to justify stop and search to community panels under new plans designed to quell the race crisis engulfing Scotland Yard.’
The Guardian, 13th November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called for police traffic stops to be reviewed to look at whether black people are disproportionately affected by some police tactics.’
BBC News, 13th November 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has recently delivered an interesting and potentially very significant judgment in the case of Officer W80. The case concerned the use of force by a police officer and whether misconduct proceedings could subsequently be instituted against him on the basis of his honestly held but mistaken belief.’
2 Hare Court, 5th November 2020
Source: www.2harecourt.com
‘R (Peter Skelton and anr) v Senior Coroner for West Sussex [2020] EWHC 2813 (Adminn). Susan Nicholson and Caroline Devlin were killed by the same man during the course of abusive relationships. They died in 2011 and 2006, but the man was not convicted – of murder and manslaughter respectively – until 2017. The inquest into Susan’s death in 2011 resulted in a verdict of accidental death. Following the murder conviction, the Coroner applied to the High Court for this to be quashed, with the intention of holding a short inquest at which a fresh conclusion of “unlawful killing” would be recorded. However, the Claimants in this case – Susan’s parents – sought to expand the scope of the inquest to consider what they thought, understandably, were police failings. They were successful; this blog explains why, and examines the wider implications of the ruling.’
UK Human Rights Law Blog, 5th November 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Police and social workers missed chances to protect a 13-year-old girl who was stabbed to death by a man after she threatened to reveal he had been sexually abusing her for more than a year, an independent review has found.’
The Guardian, 4th November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Prosecutors are to be asked to consider whether to bring new charges in the Stephen Lawrence case against senior police officers in the first botched murder investigation, it has been announced.’
The Guardian, 3rd November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The high court has rejected a legal bid to challenge a decision not to investigate Dominic Cummings’s journey from London to Durham at the height of the first coronavirus lockdown. Max Hill, the director of public prosecutions, said any decision to investigate Cummings must be made by the police. He did not have the power to interfere.’
The Guardian, 3rd November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A police officer who strangled a mother-of-two after she exposed their affair will have his 10-and-a-half year sentence for manslaughter reviewed.’
BBC News, 4th November 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has delivered a judgment in R (Officer W80) v Director General of the Independent Officer for Police Conduct [2020] EWCA Civ 1301 regarding the applicable conduct standard and provisions governing police in cases of use of force.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 28th October 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
© Inner Temple Library 2020