Selling Personal Information.

The Information Commissioner has said that there is the "modern scourge" of selling personal information illegally. This was"hugely profitable" and greater sanctions were needed to tackle it. There are calls for greater penalties as in the magistrates court the maximum fine is £5000.

The Commons Home Affairs Select Committee was informed that the profits of this selling were in millions of pounds. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the Coalition to these serious breaches.

Hot weather equals more arrests for Drink Drive and other offences.

Last weekend Sussex Police arrested 31 people on suspicion of drink driving.  Road policing officers attributed that high figure to the sunny weather. Superintendent Tony Blaker, from the Road Policing Unit, said, “It is disappointing to see this many drivers arrested in such a short period of time, even though we are used to seeing a bit of a spike during warm weather."  “Some people blatantly risk being caught, while others may unintentionally take themselves over the limit as they quench their thirsts in beer gardens or at barbecues".  “Sussex Police will continue to target these people and as 31 drivers are about to find out, it’s going to cost them a lot more than a fine and their driving licence.”

M23LAW has represented on more drink drive cases  recently, not just in the Crawley area but all over the South East. This also takes into account cases of Careless Driving and Dangerous Driving where alcohol is a significant factor.

Divine Retribution.

A thief who stole £30,000 worth of lead from church roofs was caught after he dropped a probation service letter! James Wall was jailed for 15 months after he admitted four counts of theft and asked for eight others to be taken into consideration at Oxford Crown Court.

Cyclists causing death.

There has been a campaign for the creation of a new offence of ‘causing death by dangerous or reckless cycling’ after acting for clients whose daughter was killed by being hit by a cyclist. Currently the penalty for an offence of dangerous cycling is £2200. 

A Luton MP has secured a ten minute rule bill last month which proposed that deaths caused by cyclists should be treated similarly to other road traffic deaths. While such a procedure is normally used to highlight issues and does not result in legislation, the proposed new offence will be included in a future transport bill, with other measures to update road traffic offences.

Experts are liable.

Expert witnesses have lost their immunity from being sued over the evidence they give in court cases, following a landmark Supreme Court ruling last week. By a majority of five to two in the case of Jones v Kaney, the court removed the 400 year old protection that meant expert witnesses were immune from suit for breach of duty, whether in contract or negligence, in relation to their participation in legal proceedings. 
Giving the leading judgement, Lord Phillips said the evidence did not suggest that removing immunity would discourage experts from providing their services to the court. Drawing an analogy with barristers, he said “The removal of immunity for advocates has not diminished their readiness to perform their duty, nor has there been a proliferation of vexatious claims or multiplicity of actions”.

Royal Wedding Community Payback.

·         In the cold, windswept tunnels beneath the Royal Parks they stand, in single file with mop and bucket. They are a 21st-century chain gang reluctantly returning the beauty to the grubbier corners of the royal wedding route. Over their blue boiler suits are orange jackets with the words "Community Payback" printed on the back.

·         "We set up this scheme because we wanted get the place sorted out and looking nice for the royal wedding," says Lisa Houslin, the Community Payback Scheme Manager in charge of the project. Over the next four weeks offenders with convictions ranging from driving offences to public disorder will clean the pedestrian tunnels beneath Hyde Park Corner, a key thoroughfare for the expected millions who will arrive from all corners of the globe to witness the nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

.     Community Payback, coming to a corner near you soon?

Police Priorities.

We read yesterday about a 13 year old schoolboy being investigated by Devon & Cornwall Police regarding the throwing of a marshmellow at another pupil. His father is furious at what he feels is a waste of police time and of it being quite traumatic for his son. While not knowing the specifics of this inquiry, M23LAW has defended on  many more allegations of minor Common Assault in the last decade than hitherto.
The Blair/Brown years did prioritise domestic violence of course and in many cases with due cause.  However, it will be interesting to see how an increasingly demoralised and perhaps understaffed police force deals with the less serious levels of alleged assaults.Will all the domestic violence/community safety specialist units be pared back?
In recent weeks there has been a noticeable drop in cases going through the justice system and it will be interesting to see what lasting effects the cutbacks have. We have also seen first hand the impact on young people of  being processed by police custody suites ( personal data, fingerprints, photos, DNA, interrogation etc) for the first time on relatively minor or perhaps trivial allegations.

Serial drink-drivers could have their cars seized under proposals being considered by the Government.

The powers would bring England and Wales into line with Scotland where anyone convicted  a second time is at risk of losing their car.
According to the latest figures nearly one in four motorists banned for drink or drug driving will have at least one previous conviction for the same offence
The problem appears to have worsened over the past decade. In the year 2000, 13,299 motorists received at least their second ban for driving under the influence, by 2009 this had risen to 19,605
Since the confiscation powers were introduced in Scotland in 2009, police have caught 357 repeat offenders. This has resulted in the 105 cars being seized, of which 72 have been confiscated permanently
The threat to confiscate cars from serial drink drivers is among a series of measures contained in the Government strategy.
Other changes will see offenders who are considerably over the limit will be subject to tougher controls before having their licences returned.

Derbyshire motorists hit by police crackdown.

·         Three vehicles have been taken off the road in a crackdown on motoring offences in Derbyshire.

·         Police in Tibshelf near Bolsover found eight with faulty windows, tyres or number plates - three serious enough to be unable to continue.

·         The operation also caught 44 drivers not wearing seatbelts, 10 using a mobile phone and two using red diesel.

·         Officers said the would continue to target motorists who acted in a dangerous or inconsiderate manner.

·         One of those caught using a mobile phone was issued with a summons to court as the driver already had nine penalty points.

·         Another driver was given a warning for a public order offence for using threatening, abusive or insulting language.

·         Pc Lorna Evans, said: "Unfortunately, some people are still running the risk of fines or worse by not wearing their seatbelt or using their mobile phone.”

The public will cop it?

A top cop warned last night crime will rocket as police spending is slashed. Meredydd Hughes said budget cuts will hit every area of his South Yorkshire force. Mr Hughes warns cuts will mean more crime predicted, increasing unemployment, shrinking prisons and fewer bobbies on the beat would be an explosive mixture. He also said there would be fewer units to tackle serious and organised crime while cuts in support staff would saddle officers with extra duties away from the frontline.

In a report to his police authority, Mr Hughes says: “The reduction in prison places may result in prolific offenders living in our communities as opposed to serving time. We can anticipate an increase in unemployment. This will bring additional pressures on some individuals to commit crime. All this takes place against the backdrop of fewer police and staff able to provide support to communities.”