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 moreA 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 moreThe 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 moreMuch 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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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 moreSomething 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 moreYesterday, 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…
Read moreThe New York Times has recently carried a series of articles, offering a critical insight into the failings of the English and Welsh – or, as the NYT insists on calling it, the “British” – criminal justice system. It is fair to say that the reception has been mixed. Earlier pieces focused on case studies…
Read moreAccording to Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, today I, along with thousands of my fellow criminal barristers, am taking part in an “unnecessary and irresponsible strike” which will “cause delays for victims and the wider public”. This comes as something of a surprise to me. It’s an odd sort of “strike”, given that we will, today…
Read moreFollowing the ongoing fallout from the trial of the Colston Four, and amid much confusion caused by the way in which the complicated issues have been presented by commentators and politicians, it may help to say a little more about criminal damage. I would like to take a hypothetical situation, wholly unrelated to the Colston…
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