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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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.
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...‘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...Emma Webber describes ‘fury’ at sentence received by Valdo Calocane for deadly rampage last June
The mother of one of the students stabbed to death in Nottingham has called for an inquiry into any failings that led to the knife attacks.
Emma Webber told the Times that her family “fully support” calls for a public inquiry, which also has the backing of the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, into the killings of her son Barnaby Webber, fellow University of Nottingham student Grace O’Malley-Kumar and the 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates.
Continue reading...Vincent Reynouard discovered living double life in Scottish village where he worked as a tutor, reports say
A Holocaust denier who was arrested in a Scottish fishing village will be extradited back to France after spending two years on the run from the authorities.
Vincent Reynouard lost his extradition battle after his arrest in November 2022. He had been discovered living a double life in Anstruther, Fife, where he worked as a private tutor, according to reports.
Continue reading...Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin’s convictions linked to British Transport Police officer Derek Ridgewell posthumously quashed
Two men who were jailed based on evidence from a racist and corrupt police officer have had their convictions posthumously overturned by the court of appeal.
Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin are the 10th and 11th people to have convictions relating to the British Transport Police (BTP) officer DS Derek Ridgewell quashed. Their appeals after a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) were uncontested on Thursday.
Continue reading...Companies could be stopped from taking such action, and firms involved in Horizon case may have to pay compensation
Rules to prevent companies taking private prosecutions in the way the Post Office went after innocent post office operators are being considered by the government.
The move by the government to consider removing powers of prosecution from the Post Office and other entities is part of a response to the Horizon IT scandal that could also lead to companies involved, including the tech company Fujitsu, being asked to shoulder the financial burden of providing compensation, a cabinet minister indicated on Tuesday.
Continue reading...PM reveals government is also considering plans to strip Post Office of its powers to prosecute
Post office operators whose lives have been ruined by the Horizon scandal could be exonerated under plans being considered by the government, Rishi Sunak has said.
The prime minister also confirmed that Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, could strip the Post Office of its powers to prosecute after more than 700 branch managers were wrongly handed criminal convictions.
Continue reading...Victim of software scandal says TV drama has reignited issue as 50 new operators contact lawyers
A former post office operator who led a campaign to fight against wrongful convictions brought by the Post Office has called for compensation for the victims to be sped up after the broadcast of an ITV drama about the scandal.
The Metropolitan police confirmed on Friday the Post Office was under criminal investigation over “potential fraud offences” committed during the Horizon scandal.
Continue reading...Joe Outlaw is one of 2,921 inmates still on IPP sentences, which were abolished in 2012
It should be impossible to escape from a high-security prison, doubly so for prisoners held on the segregation unit, who are allowed only to exercise in a caged yard.
But on 21 June, the summer solstice and the hottest day of the year at that point, Joe Outlaw managed to break through the cage and get on to the roof of HMP Frankland, a Durham prison dubbed “Monster mansion” due to many of its inmates being convicted murderers, terrorists and sex offenders.
Continue reading...