Man aged in his 80s kept the substance in his home after it was no longer required for another person, coroner told
A man who took a voluntary assisted dying substance intended for someone else was found dead at home by his adult daughter, an inquest has heard.
“I thought he was asleep in the chair. I put my arms around him. He was cold,” the woman said.
Continue reading...Campaigners to appeal after court declines to block export licences despite concerns about human rights breaches in Gaza war
The high court has dismissed a case urging the suspension of UK arms sales to Israel.
The legal challenge against the UK Department for Business and Trade was launched in December by the Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan).
Continue reading...Attorney general Victoria Prentis asks court of appeal to review hospital order handed to Calocane, who killed three people
The families of the three people stabbed to death in the Nottingham attacks last year have welcomed a court of appeal review of the “unduly lenient” sentence of the perpetrator, Valdo Calocane.
The killer was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order last month for the attacks on university students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and a school caretaker, Ian Coates, 65, in the early hours of 13 June last year.
Continue reading...Riyad al-Maliki presents Palestinian case at start of week of hearings called by UN general assembly vote
The Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, has accused Israel of “colonialism and apartheid” at a world court hearing on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands since 1967.
“For over a century, the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination has been denied and violated,” Maliki told a bench of judges at the international court of justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, in The Hague. “Palestine was not a land without people. It was not, as Israeli leaders have described it, a wasteland. There was life on this land.”
Continue reading...Billy (not real name) is now being home-schooled after bullying turned into physical violence
Starting secondary school had not been easy for Billy (not his real name). What started as verbal taunts from one boy soon saw him become the target of a group of four boys. Bullying became physical violence. Yet the abuse got even worse, escalating to sexual assault. The group would corner him in the toilets and grope and touch his genitals. Unsurprisingly, Billy’s mental health quickly deteriorated. He is now being home-schooled and he struggles to leave the house because of anxiety.
Billy is receiving support from Embrace, a charity that works with children who have been the victims of crime. He says that he is starting to feel stronger, while his parents say his panic attacks and nightmares are receding thanks to the support he is getting. However, what he experienced was part of an increase in “peer-on-peer abuse” that is worrying schools, police and professionals who work with young people.
Continue reading...Observer investigation in England and Wales reveals 40% increase in reports of sexual assaults and rapes where both victim and perpetrator were under 18
An alarming rise in sexual assaults on children by other children is being fuelled by access to a “toxic” online culture, Britain’s most senior child protection officer has warned, as an Observer investigation revealed a sharp increase in abuse by under-18s reported to police.
Police records of rape, sexual assaults and incidents of abuse carried out by young children in England and Wales have all seen a significant increase since the Covid pandemic. The Observer has also uncovered an 81% rise in reported incidents that took place on school property. One leading expert said the problem had reached “alarming levels”.
Continue reading...Witnesses claim victims shot ‘execution style’ during house raids after clashes between government forces and Fano rebels
Ethiopian government troops went door-to-door killing dozens of civilians last month in a town in the country’s Amhara region, according to residents, who said the bloodshed took place after clashes with local militia.
The killings in Merawi appear to be one of the deadliest episodes in Amhara since a rebellion by Fano, an armed Amhara group, erupted last year over a disputed plan to disarm regional forces.
Continue reading...Special rapporteur cites lack of medical supplies, food and clean water, and continued demolition of infrastructure
Israel appears to be in breach of the orders issued a fortnight ago by the international court of justice requiring it to take immediate steps to protect Palestinians’ rights and cease all activities that could constitute genocide, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied territories, Francesca Albanese, has said.
The Israeli government was given until 23 February to report to the ICJ on what it has done to comply with six orders the court issued, including one relating to ending incitement to genocide and another requiring immediate steps to improve the supply of humanitarian aid.
Continue reading...People may be exposed to abuses such as torture and degrading treatment in Rwanda, says watchdog
Europe’s leading anti-torture watchdog has called on the government to process asylum claims in the UK rather than sending people to Rwanda because of the risk they may be exposed to human rights abuses there.
In a report published on Thursday, the Council of Europe’s committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment raises a litany of concerns after an 11-day visit to the UK in March and April last year.
Continue reading...Rights groups say proposed police powers for England and Wales are pandering to ‘culture war nonsense’
Protesters who wear masks could face arrest, up to a month in jail and a £1,000 fine under proposed measures that human rights campaigners claim are pandering to “culture war nonsense”.
Police in England and Wales will be given the power to arrest people if they are wearing face coverings at specific demonstrations, the Home Office has said.
Continue reading...‘Shameful’ backlogs in cases are causing severe mental health problems, says victims commissioner
Victims of crime are dying waiting for justice as they face delays of up to six years for their cases to be dealt with in court, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales has said.
As a new law to enshrine victims’ rights is scrutinised in the House of Lords, Baroness Helen Newlove warned that the wider justice system was “on its knees”, with “shameful” backlogs leaving victims suffering acute mental health problems.
Continue reading...But federal judge in California says lawsuit aimed at stopping US military support for Israel is outside court’s jurisdiction
A federal court in California has ruled that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza “plausibly” amounts to genocide, but dismissed a case aimed at stopping US military support for Israel as being outside the court’s jurisdiction.
“There are rare cases in which the preferred outcome is inaccessible to the court. This is one of those cases,” the US district court in the northern district of California ruled. “The court is bound by precedent and the division of our coordinate branches of government to abstain from exercising jurisdiction in this matter.
Continue reading...Ex-US president took action over allegations he took part in ‘perverted acts’ and bribed Russian officials
Donald Trump’s data protection claim for damages over allegations in the “Steele dossier” that he took part in “perverted” sex acts and gave bribes to Russian officials has been dismissed by a high court judge in London.
Mrs Justice Steyn agreed with Orbis Business Intelligence, the company founded by the former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who compiled the contentious material, that the case should not go to trial.
Continue reading...Country accused of violating torture convention in hope of finding justice decade after incident in which at least 15 people died
A 25-year-old from Cameroon has filed a complaint to the UN against Spain, accusing the country of multiple violations of the convention against torture in hope of seeking justice after an incident in 2014 during which at least 15 people died while trying to enter Spanish territory from Morocco.
“A decade has passed and still not a single person has been held accountable for the death and injury of so many,” said the man, who asked to be identified by the pseudonym Ludovic.
Continue reading...Irish foreign minister says he does ‘not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side’
Back at the home affairs committee James Daly (Con) asks why so few police investigations end up in people being charged.
James Cleverly, the home secretary, says the Crown Prosecution Service is independent. He wants to make sure investigations are as professional as possible.
Continue reading...Thousands of small businesses sue for return of brokers’ fees that often go undisclosed in billing
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Businesses across the UK have been forced to pay an extra 10% on average for their gas and electricity because suppliers routinely add third-party broker commissions to their bills, according to a leading litigation law firm.
Thousands of small businesses have joined a group legal action, led by the law firm Harcus Parker, to claw back up to £2bn in undisclosed broker fees added to their energy bills.
Continue reading...Gathering of at least 20 black-clad, masked men at Artarmon Reserve follows confrontation with police resulting in six arrests on Friday
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has doubled down on his push to tighten anti-vilification laws after a group of neo-Nazis attempted to hold another rally in a public park on Sunday morning.
Police responded to the gathering of at least 20 black-clad, masked men who gathered at Artarmon Reserve at 9am on Sunday.
Continue reading...An official report a year before three people were stabbed to death in the city raised concerns about the force’s management practices
Nottinghamshire police was ordered to review its management of offenders a year before a wanted man with paranoid schizophrenia stabbed three people to death.
A report by the official policing inspectorate in April 2022 said the force should “immediately review” their approach to managing low-risk offenders to ensure risk was “effectively monitored and managed”.
Continue reading...The blog is now closed, but please see more coverage of the situation in the Middle East here:
Hamas said in a statement that Israel is on a “campaign of incitement” against UN agencies delivering aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, reports Al Jazeera.
The news organisation said the statement highlighted an Israeli accusation of “collusion” between the World Health Organization (WHO) and Hamas, which the UN agency rejected on Friday.
Continue reading...Women losing ‘everything’ after being accused of illegal abortion in England and Wales, even if not charged, says Dr Jonathan Lord
Women in England and Wales accused of having illegal abortions have been held in custody after pregnancy loss, had their children taken into care and been saddled with debt, an expert has said.
Dr Jonathan Lord, a co-chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) abortion taskforce, said he was aware of up to 30 “deeply traumatic” cases where women had been investigated by the police, with some suffering “life-changing harm”.
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