Today, the government has confirmed that it intends to remove the right to trial by jury in the vast majority of cases in the Crown Courts. Serious criminal allegations, carrying up to three years in prison, will, under David Lammy’s proposals, no longer be tried by juries, returning verdicts based on their assessments of the…
Read moreThe Cut Throat Trial, Publication Day and The Terror
Today marks the publication of The Cut Throat Trial – my fourth book, and my first foray into crime fiction. And I don’t mind admitting that I’m terrified. The first three non-fictions were each terrifying in their own way: the complete unknown of Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken in 2018; difficult second-album…
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Why did the jury acquit Ricky Jones?
The acquittal of councillor Ricky Jones last week has sparked a flurry of speculation and misinformation. Here is an effort to shed a little light. As ever, the standard disclaimer applies: this is an explanation; not a defence or a justification. 1. What is this all about? Labour councillor Ricky Jones has been acquitted by…
Read moreNo, the Inns of Court are not biased against white barristers
A quick one today, addressing a misnomer which began life as a conspiracy theory on Twitter, and this week found itself put forward as a news item by Kevin O’Sullivan and Isabel Oakeshott on “TalkTV”. The claim Lincoln’s Inn, an elite law school which trained among others Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, is overrepresented in…
Read moreWe need to talk about the Sentencing Council
The past few weeks have seen significant political and media attention lavished on the Sentencing Council of England and Wales, a small independent non-departmental public body which has hitherto attracted little interest from anybody outside the criminal justice system. What began as a sprinkling of misinformation on social media has snowballed into a political and…
Read moreTwo tier justice? Cutting through the online myths is
Much has been written, tweeted and amplified about the English and Welsh criminal justice system’s response to the recent incidents of public disorder, very little of which is accurate. Below is a quick primer on the truth behind some of the more popular and virulent myths. “People are being charged and brought before the courts…
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Is it fair to criticise Keir Starmer for representing terrorists? Ten things you should know.
Following a series of attacks by the government and parts of the media against the leader of the opposition based on his career as a barrister, it appears necessary to sprinkle some facts into the conversation. 1. Keir Starmer was a barrister. What is a barrister? A nice easy one to kick off. A barrister is…
Read moreHere’s what’s wrong with Labour’s attack ads on crime
Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry this morning became the latest media casualty of Labour’s attempts to justify their much-criticised attack adverts on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in particular the tweet claiming that Mr Sunak “[doesn’t] believe that adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison”. Appearing on Radio 4’s Today programme to be interviewed…
Read moreHow do we force cowardly murderers to face up to what they have done?
Something must be done about the problem of convicted criminals refusing to attend court for their sentencing hearings. So both main political parties are agreed. And so, according to polls, is the public. The issue has returned to the fore this week with the refusal of Thomas Cashman to attend his sentence following his conviction…
Read moreWe need to talk about Gary Glitter
Yesterday, as newspapers reported that convicted sex offender Paul Gadd – formerly known as Gary Glitter – had been recalled to prison having apparently breached the conditions of his licence, the following tweet was posted by a legal commentator and practising barrister: Now, it is a matter of personal interpretation as to whether this tweet…
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