Category Archives: Crown Prosecution Service

CPS to train staff on ‘spectrum of abuse’ in violence against women and girls

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Five-year strategy aims to improve casework after analysis finds domestic abuse in more than third of rape cases

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will train its staff to recognise the “wide spectrum of abuse” in cases of violence against women, after new data found that domestic abuse was present in more than a third of rape cases, and in more than eight out of 10 cases of stalking and image-based abuse.

Launching its five-year Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, the body said its main aims were to increase casework quality and increase trust in the CPS.

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MPs to hold inquiry into collapsed China spy case after No 10 publishes key evidence

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Labour MP and chair of security committee Matt Western says there are ‘a lot of questions still to be asked’

MPs will hold an inquiry into the collapse of a trial of two men accused of spying for China, after No 10 published key evidence in an attempt to draw a line under the row.

Matt Western, a Labour MP and chair of the joint committee on the national security strategy (JCNSS), told the House of Commons there are “a lot of questions yet to be asked” and announced a formal inquiry.

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Joint committee on national security strategy to hold inquiry into collapse of China spy trial, MPs told – UK politics live

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Chairs of home affairs, foreign affairs and justice committees to be among those involved in inquiry

Ward says that “no minister or special adviser played any role in the provision of evidence” under this government. He says he cannot say if that was the case under the last government.

There is a lot of jeering at this. The Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, reprimands Tom Tugendhat for his interruption.

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Starmer only read China spy witness statements this morning, No 10 says, as Cleverly accuses PM of misquoting him – as it happened

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This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

Lindsay Hoyle starts by telling MPs that speakers from the parliaments in Fiji and Ukraine are in the gallery. And he says it is four years to the day since David Amess was murdered.

It’s PMQs. Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

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Government made ‘every effort’ to support China spying trial, says minister

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Dan Jarvis accuses Tories of suggesting case was deliberately abandoned ‘without a shred of evidence’

The government made “every effort” to support the trial of two men accused of spying for China, a minister has said, as he accused the Tories of claiming the case was deliberately abandoned “without a shred of evidence”.

Dan Jarvis, the security minister, issued a robust defence of Jonathan Powell in the Commons after reports that Keir Starmer’s national security adviser played a role in the collapse of the case.

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Legal experts question reasoning behind CPS dropping China ‘spies’ case

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Ex-DPP Ken Macdonald says prosecutors may have been ‘over-fussy’ in seeking further assurances from government

Legal experts have questioned the explanation given by the Crown Prosecution Service for its sudden decision to drop charges against two Britons accused of spying for China amid a political row over who was responsible.

The expert lawyers expressed surprise that the CPS thought it needed further assurance from the government that China was an enemy insofar as it posed “a current threat to national security” before the trial of Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry could go ahead.

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CPS to appeal against dismissal of terrorism charge against Kneecap’s Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh

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The rapper was accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah but case was thrown out by magistrate

Prosecutors will appeal against a court’s decision to throw out a terrorism charge against the Kneecap rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh.

The 27-year-old was accused of displaying a flag in support of the proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig in November last year until a technical error in the way he was charged led to the chief magistrate ruling he could not try the case.

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Companies face prosecution risk as new fraud law comes into force

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CPS hails ‘major step forward’ in crime prevention with potential for companies to receive unlimited fines

Companies could be prosecuted and face unlimited fines if they fail to prevent fraud that their firm profits from under a corporate offence coming into force on Monday.

Under the new “failure to prevent fraud” law, large companies can be held criminally liable where an “employee, agent, subsidiary or other ‘associated person’” commits a fraud intending to benefit the organisation.

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Court orders seizure of counterfeit underwear seller’s £90m assets

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Ferrari and property owned by Arif Patel, tax fraudster who has been on the run since 2011, will be sold at auction

A self-styled clothing tycoon who sold counterfeit socks and pants while operating an extensive fraud ring will have all his UK assets seized after the Crown Prosecution Service won a court order to confiscate up to £90m worth of property and luxury cars.

Arif Patel, 57, from Preston, Lancashire, who has been on the run since 2011, will have homes and business premises he owned taken from him after a confiscation order granted by a judge at Chester crown court on Thursday.

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Labour goes slow on rape courts pledge amid fears over shortage of lawyers

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Election manifesto promise to set up specialist tribunals to deal with huge backlog of cases has been put on hold

The government appears to have stalled on plans to set up dozens of specialist rape courts to deal with a huge backlog of cases, amid warnings there are not enough lawyers to make the proposals work.

Labour pledged during the election campaign to use vacant rooms and buildings on crown court sites to fast-track rape cases and reduce the numbers awaiting trial.

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Essex police drop Allison Pearson case after CPS advice

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Police were advised there was no chance of conviction against journalist after hate crime investigation, Guardian understands

Essex police have dropped their hate crime investigation into Allison Pearson, the Daily Telegraph columnist visited by police after she wrongly accused people of colour of being antisemitic.

The decision followed advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that there was no reasonable chance of a conviction, the Guardian understands.

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Crown court backlog in England and Wales ‘could hit 100,000 without radical overhaul’

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Chief inspector raises prospect of judge-only trials and greater use of magistrates to reduce prosecutors’ caseloads

The backlog of cases in crown courts in England and Wales could hit 100,000 unless radical action is taken to overhaul the criminal justice system, a watchdog has said.

Anthony Rogers, the chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said prosecutors’ caseloads were already beyond what had been seen before and he feared the situation could deteriorate.

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Activists say they have proof ministers tried to influence police over Israeli arms firm protests

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Palestine Action says papers show ministers attempted to sway police and prosecutors to crack down on protesters

Internal government documents show that Home Office ministers and staff tried to influence police and prosecutors to crack down on activists targeting the UK factories of an Israeli arms manufacturer, campaigners have claimed.

Briefing notes, obtained through freedom of information (FoI) requests by Palestine Action, show details of government meetings, predating the 7 October Hamas attacks and Israel’s response in Gaza, intended to “reassure” Elbit Systems UK, an Israeli arms manufacturer, which is subject to a direct action campaign by the campaign group.

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Suspects in assisted dying cases wait far too long on prosecution decision, says ex-DPP

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Ex-director of public prosecutions in England and Wales says that of 27 cases he considered for potential charges only one met the threshold

The former director of public prosecutions Sir Max Hill has said a review of assisted dying laws should consider how bereaved suspects are forced to endure long waits before being told whether they face prosecution.

During his time as DPP for England and Wales, from 2018 to 2023, Hill said he considered 27 cases for potential charges involving assisted suicide. He considered only one met the evidential and public interest threshold for a prosecution.

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Justice for Grenfell deaths may not come this decade, warns former chief prosecutor

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Lord Macdonald warns of likely delays in criminal justice system as survivors denounce ‘arrogant’ building firms

Justice for those responsible for the 72 deaths in the Grenfell Tower fire may not come until the end of this decade, a former chief prosecutor has warned, as survivors voiced growing fury over building firms’ “arrogant” refusal to admit wrongdoing.

The public inquiry findings of “systematic dishonesty” by multimillion-dollar building companies involved in the tower’s disastrous refurbishment prompted a clamour for accelerated criminal charges this week, seven years on from the blaze.

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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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Social media built narrative that Christopher Kapessa’s death was racist killing, say police

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Suggestions that 13-year-old was pushed into river by schoolmate led to online comparisons with Stephen Lawrence murder

A senior police officer has raised concerns that a “narrative” was built up suggesting the death of a black boy allegedly pushed into a Welsh river by a schoolmate was a racist killing.

Det Ch Insp Matt Powell, who led the police investigation into 13-year-old Christopher Kapessa’s death, said comparisons to Stephen Lawrence’s murder on social media led to tensions rising in the community and meant the suspect had to be given protection.

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Top lawyer urges MPs to review private prosecutions after Post Office scandal

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Bar Council chair Sam Townend KC says parliament should consider formal regulation of growing practice

Parliament should consider formal regulation of the growing practice of private prosecutions to ensure the power is not abused, the chair of the Bar Council has said.

Sam Townend KC said a review of private prosecutions should be launched in response to the Post Office scandal, in which about 3,500 postmasters were accused of theft, fraud and false accounting, and more than 700 prosecuted in cases brought by the organisation.

Gather evidence of the alleged crime, possibly using a private investigator.

Hand over evidence to a lawyer, who will review whether there is sufficient evidence to bring a criminal prosecution.

Make an application at a magistrates court to bring a private prosecution. This will be reviewed and either granted or rejected by a district judge.

The CPS may review the case at any time if the case is referred by the defendant, the private prosecutor or the court. The CPS can take over cases, either to proceed or discontinue.

If you proceed privately, the case will (eventually) be heard in court.

At the end of the case your lawyers can apply for costs to be reimbursed from the defendant and/or the public purse.

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Keir Starmer denies he knew CPS was prosecuting post office operators

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Labour leader was director of public prosecutions when three cases brought by CPS resulted in convictions

Keir Starmer has denied he was aware of Crown Prosecution Service prosecutions against post office operators caught up in the Horizon IT scandal when he headed the agency.

The Labour leader’s comments came as calls grew for the former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to hand back £3m in bonuses earned during her period in charge.

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HS2 may end up as ‘total waste of money’, warns IFS thinktank – UK politics live

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Comments from Paul Johnson of Institute of Fiscal Studies come as Downing Street hints at delay to work on second phase of rail link

Around 20,000 university workers are out on strike this week at more than 50 universities across the UK, despite a dramatic last-minute scaling back of industrial action.

Strikes had been set to go ahead at 142 UK universities this week as part of a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions, but it emerged last week that two thirds of branches of the University and College Union (UCU) had declined to take part.

Davey said the Lib Dem commitment – dating back to 1992 – to raise income tax by 1p to improve public services is unsustainable in the current economic climate. Originally the money raised was earmarked for education, but at the last election the party said it would use it to fund the NHS.

Speaking from Bournemouth to broadcast studios, Davey suggested the burden should instead fall on companies making “huge profits” while people struggle with the cost of living.

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