Category Archives: UK criminal justice

For many, Andrew Malkinson’s case a sign the CCRC has lost its way

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Those close to Criminal Cases Review Commission’s work hope review will pave way for change in leadership and purpose

Andrew Malkinson had only just stepped outside the court of appeal last summer when he received a message of apology from Greater Manchester police. It was the force’s work that ultimately led to his wrongful conviction for rape, leaving him incarcerated for 17 years.

Malkinson was unimpressed by their late contrition, but there was another body that refused to apologise at all that day. Yet their work – or lack of it – prolonged his time behind bars by a decade.

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Rishi Sunak ‘risked breaching legal responsibilities over prison crisis’

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Exclusive: leaked letters said without urgent action the system in England and Wales would reach ‘critical failure’

Rishi Sunak was warned by senior civil servants a week before he called the election that he was at risk of breaching his legal responsibilities if he failed to take action over the prison overcrowding crisis, a leaked document reveals.

The advice, sent to the former prime minister on 15 May, said that failing to make an urgent decision on prison capacity would mean the criminal justice system in England and Wales reaching the point of “critical failure”.

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Sunak and ministers are ‘guilty men’ in prisons crisis, says justice secretary

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Shabana Mahmood says Tories left country threatened with total breakdown of law and order

Rishi Sunak and his former ministers are “the guilty men” who should be held responsible for “the most disgraceful dereliction of duty” by failing to address the prisons crisis, the justice secretary has said.

Speaking as she set out plans to release thousands of inmates early to ease pressure in overcrowded jails, Shabana Mahmood said the Conservatives “had left the country threatened with a total breakdown of law and order”.

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Could Britain solve its prisons crisis by going Dutch?

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After the UK justice minister praised the system in the Netherlands, experts there say the reality is more complex

Earlier this year, before he became the UK justice minister, James Timpson described how Britain should follow the Dutch example of mild sentencing to help solve the prisons crisis.

“They have shut half their prisons not because people are less naughty in Holland,” he told Channel 4. “It’s because they have a different way of sentencing, which is community sentencing so people can stay at home, keep their jobs, keep their homes, keep reading their children bedtime stories, and it means they are far less likely to commit crime again. A custodial sentence is not always the right thing.”

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Starmer ‘shocked’ about prisons crisis as early release scheme prepared

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Government to announce terms which could free more than 20,000 inmates in coming months to manage capacity

The “shocking” prisons crisis is even worse than feared, Keir Starmer has said as the government prepares to release tens of thousands of inmates early in a bid to prevent jails becoming full.

The prime minister suggested he was opposed to freeing violent criminals and sex offenders when ministers announce the terms of a new prisoner release scheme for England and Wales on Friday.

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From a plea deal to a 2am prison call: how Julian Assange finally gained freedom

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A lawyer’s offer, a judgment that foretold years of legal wrangling, and diplomatic pressure all played a part in the release of the WikiLeaks founder

• Julian Assange released from prison – live updates

It was, as his friends described it, the “last kick of the British establishment”. At 2am on Monday, Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, was woken in his small cell in the high-security Belmarsh prison, south-east London, and ordered to dress before being put in handcuffs.

It was the beginning of the end of Assange’s incarceration in Britain but it was going to be on his jailers’ terms.

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Prisons in England and Wales will be at ‘breaking point’ in July, governors told

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Exclusive: heads of prisons say they will no longer be able to accept new inmates ‘very soon’ after 4 July election

Prison governors have been warned that jails will be so overcrowded by the second week of July that they will struggle to accept any more inmates, plunging an incoming government into an immediate crisis.

The heads of jails in England and Wales were informed by HM Prison and Probation Service officials earlier this month that data pointed to an “operational capacity breaking point” only days after the 4 July general election.

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UK ministers to be challenged in human rights court over protest injunctions

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Friends of the Earth will argue private companies are allowed to create their own public order laws that stifle demonstrations

The government is to be challenged at the European court of human rights over its use of “confusing and opaque” anti-protest injunctions.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth (FoE) is to argue such injunctions allow private companies to create bespoke public order laws that stifle peaceful protest.

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Court backlog target in England and Wales no longer achievable, says NAO

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Watchdog says outstanding caseload has increased from 60,000 to 67,573 since MoJ set target of 53,000 in 2021

The Ministry of Justice’s ambition to reduce the backlog in crown courts in England and Wales to 53,000 by March next year is no longer achievable, a parliamentary watchdog has said.

The MoJ set the target in October 2021 when the outstanding caseload was 60,000, but by the end of last year it had reached 67,573 – its highest level ever – according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report.

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Braverman plan to criminalise rough sleeping dropped after Tory criticism

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Proposal, condemned by homelessness charities as dehumanising, had provoked threats of revolt among MPs

Ministers will drop plans to criminalise rough sleepers for being deemed a nuisance or having an excessive smell after Conservative MPs threatened a revolt over the proposals.

The plans, originally announced by the then home secretary, Suella Braverman, had been condemned by homeless charities as dehumanising.

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Government triggers crisis measure to ease prison overcrowding

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Exclusive: Operation Safeguard confirmed by Ministry of Justice after damning report on conditions in one of UK’s biggest jails

The government has formally triggered a crisis measure to ease prison overcrowding by using police cells to house inmates.

The confirmation of Operation Safeguard by the Ministry of Justice follows a decision to consider releasing some prisoners 70 days before their sentences were due to end.

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End majority jury verdicts to prevent more justice ‘horror’, says Malkinson

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Exclusive: Man who spent 17 years in prison after wrongly being convicted of rape says he will ‘shout from the rooftops’ for UK law reform

Andrew Malkinson says he could have been spared “20 years of darkness and despair” if the jury system had not been changed to allow majority verdicts.

Malkinson was exonerated of rape last summer, two decades after a jury wrongly convicted him by a majority of 10 to 2.

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Prisons ‘sleepwalking into crisis’ as inmates forced to share single cells

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Longer sentences and court backlogs push 25% of prisoners in England and Wales into shared cells, adding to drug-use and violence

The scale of the prison overcrowding crisis has been laid bare by figures revealing that a quarter of prisoners in England and Wales have been sharing cells designed for one person with at least one other inmate.

According to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), 11,018 cells intended for single use were being shared by two prisoners, with a further 18 such cells shared by three inmates. The overall prison population – which has ballooned over recent decades because of longer sentences and court backlogs – stood at about 88,000 when the statistics were originally compiled in late February.

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Creating sexually explicit deepfake images to be made offence in UK

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Offenders could face jail if image is widely shared under proposed amendment to criminal justice bill

Creating a sexually explicit “deepfake” image is to be made an offence under a new law, the Ministry of Justice has announced.

Under the legislation, anyone who creates such an image without consent will face a criminal record and an unlimited fine. They could also face jail if the image is shared more widely.

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High court judge removed from case in part due to his Garrick membership

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Sir Jonathan Cohen was due to hear case involving alleged rape victim but second judge ruled he should not hear it

A high court judge has been removed from presiding over a case involving an alleged rape and domestic abuse victim, in part due to his membership of the men-only Garrick Club.

Sir Jonathan Cohen was due to hear a family court case involving a dispute between a separated couple over shared care arrangements for their child, but another high court judge ruled last Thursday that Cohen should not hear the case.

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Ex-ministers press Sunak on ‘persecution’ of carers who broke earnings rules

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David Blunkett and Alan Johnson join Iain Duncan Smith in dismay at DWP’s treatment of benefit recipients’ minor mistakes

The “scandalous” prosecution of unpaid carers uncovered by the Guardian must end now and an inquiry must be launched immediately, Rishi Sunak has been told.

The pressure on the prime minister grew as three former work and pension secretaries and Labour demanded to know why thousands of people who care for their loved ones have been hounded for thousands of pounds – and in some cases convicted – after unwittingly breaching earnings rules by just a few pounds a week.

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Scotland’s first minister defends Hate Crime Act amid barrage of criticism

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Police union chief says enforcing law will lessen public trust in policing, while JK Rowling dares force to arrest her

Scotland’s first minister has described his new hate crime law as “absolutely balanced” on the day the controversial legislation came into force amid a barrage of criticism.

Humza Yousaf’s comments came as David Kennedy, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said enforcing the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 would reduce public trust in policing and the author JK Rowling, a prominent critic of the legislation, dared the police to arrest her for misgendering.

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Vulnerable man pleads with UK government to block extradition to US

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Diogo Santos Coelho from Portugal faces a 52-year sentence for alleged cybercrime relating to RaidForums site

A vulnerable autistic man is pleading with the UK government to block his extradition to the US on cybercrime charges where he faces a 52-year sentence for alleged offending that began when he was a child.

Diogo Santos Coelho, who has been assessed as at very high risk of suicide, said he had been groomed and exploited online by adults from the age of 14 into committing the alleged crimes, which relate to the website RaidForums.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Girl at YOI Wetherby was twice stripped by male officers, watchdog says

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Inspector says he was ‘deeply shocked’ by incidents with no female officer present at young offender institution

An “incredibly vulnerable” girl held in a young offender institution was pinned down and stripped by an all-male group of officers on at least two occasions, a watchdog has discovered.

Charities have called for all female offenders to be removed from YOI Wetherby in West Yorkshire after the damning disclosure by the chief inspector of prisons.

In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Vulnerable man ‘humiliated’ into confessing to 1990 London murder, court told

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Court of appeal hears Oliver Campbell was convicted on basis of inconsistent confession made under police pressure

There is a “crescendo of concern” from psychological experts that a vulnerable man was convicted of murder on the basis of a false confession, the court of appeal heard on Wednesday.

Oliver Campbell was convicted of murdering east London shopkeeper Baldev Hoondle 33 years ago after telling police he had shot him. But Campbell, 53, suffered profound brain injuries as a baby, leaving him with significantly impaired cognitive ability.

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