Legal News Articles
Police investigate fall from height at London department store (31 December 2014)
A man in his twenties is reported to be fighting for his life in hospital, after he fell from height at the Peter Jones Store in Kensington and Chelsea, London. Read more...
Domestic violence abusers “using spyware to stalk victims” (31 December 2014)
Research has shown that domestic violence abusers are downloading spyware apps for as little as £30 each, which enable them to stalk their partners and victims – including listening into phone calls made from a mobile phone. Read more...
Joint enterprise murder conviction to be reviewed (31 December 2014)
A 16-year-old jailed for the murder of a man in 2008 may win his freedom as a result of concerns over his conviction under joint enterprise. Read more...
US researchers find playing a musical instrument helps children overcome mental health issues (30 December 2014)
US researchers at the University of Vermont College of Medicine have found that playing music has a beneficial effect on areas of the brain which regulate behaviour – and suggest that children with mental health problems such as anxiety should be encourage to play instruments like the violin. Read more...
NHS England to crack down on prescription fraud (30 December 2014)
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has criticised plans to make checks on free prescriptions tougher at the pharmacy counter. Read more...
Campaigner who won landmark “right-to-die” clarification dies (30 December 2014)
Right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy has died after refusing food at the hospice caring for her. Read more...
Drug dealers taking over homes of vulnerable people, says charity (30 December 2014)
A senior social worker at the Ipswich charity the Iceni Project says that there has been a sharp increase in cases involving drug dealers taking over a vulnerable person’s home to deal from – a practice known as “cuckooing”. Read more...
Government agrees to independent review of pregnancy-testing drug used in 1960s and 1970s (30 December 2014)
The government has agreed to an independent expert review looking into the cases of women given a pregnancy-testing drug which may have caused foetal deformities and stillbirths. Read more...
Woman undergoes surgery after dog attack (29 December 2014)
An 18-year-old woman underwent surgery at Bradford Royal Infirmary after being mauled by a dog while she was house sitting. Read more...
House prices up an average of 6% in 2014 (29 December 2014)
New figures reveal that house prices across the UK rose by an average of 6% in 2014, with properties outside London increasing in value by around £15,000. Read more...
Medics issue children’s injury warning over Loom bands (29 December 2014)
Medical staff working in the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department at the Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, Scotland are warning that more needs to be done to highlight the potential dangers of the children’s toy Loom bands. Read more...
London Mayor calls on politicians to “make the case” for the positive side of immigration (17 December 2014)
London Mayor Boris Johnson has implied that people complaining of overcrowding in London may be “xenophobic”. Read more...
NICE issues new NHS mental health guidelines for pregnant women and new mothers (17 December 2014)
The NHS has been given updated guidelines for pregnant women who may be at risk from mental health issues. Read more...
13-year-old charged with murder of builder (17 December 2014)
A 13-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of a 53-year-old builder inside a block of flats at Edmonton in north London on Sunday evening (14/12/14). Read more...
European Court of Human Rights upholds convictions of failed London bombers (17 December 2014)
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that four men convicted of a failed plot to bomb London Transport on 21 July, 2005 should serve their sentences. Read more...
G4S guards cleared of manslaughter of Mubenga (17 December 2014)
The three G4S guards on trial over the death of 46-year-old deportee Jimmy Mubenga have been cleared of his manslaughter at the Old Bailey in London. Read more...
UK immigration debate “driven by prejudice rather than facts” (17 December 2014)
A report by the Irish Times has suggested that the UK’s EU immigration debate is being driven by “popular prejudice” rather than facts. Read more...
Watford housing association under fire from LibDem councilors over mis-timed announcement that tenants might lose their homes (17 December 2014)
Liberal Democrat councilors in Watford have criticised a housing association for telling tenants they might lose their homes just hours before a public meeting to discuss the redevelopment of the Meriden estate. Read more...
High Court rules father was wrongly barred from home after “unproven allegations” of domestic violence (17 December 2014)
A judge has branded “Kafka-esque” the family court’s treatment of a man issued with a court order which prevented him from seeing his children without any prior notice. Read more...
Statutory inquiry into child sex abuse might force witnesses to testify (16 December 2014)
Home Secretary Theresa May has called for the government inquiry into child abuse to be given statutory powers – which would compel child abuse witnesses to give evidence. Read more...
Brighton Council to ask again for Right-To-Buy to be scrapped (16 December 2014)
The chief executive of Brighton & Hove Council is to ask the government to scrap Right-To-Buy to help ease the crisis in social housing in the area. Read more...
World Wide Web inventor calls for end of online abuse towards women (15 December 2014)
The British inventor who developed the World Wide Web has called for an end to women being abused online as a result of so-called “trolls” who threaten violence and sexual violence online. Read more...
MoJ launches £1m fund to encourage male rape victims to report crimes (15 December 2014)
The government’s Minister of Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims has announced the launch of a £1 million fund to encourage more male victims of rape to report incidents to the police. Read more...
More transparency in Family Division “may push children into suicide” (15 December 2014)
The government’s Deputy Children’s Commissioner Sue Berelowitz has said that if family courts become more transparent, children may be pushed into committing suicide if they have to face public scrutiny. Read more...
80-year-old jailed for £69,000 benefit fraud (15 December 2014)
An 80-year-old man who fraudulently claimed £69,000 in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit over an eight-year period has been sentenced to 40 weeks in jail at Oxford Crown Court. Read more...
Suspended sentence for ex-estate agent who accepted £20k in deposits on parents’ home to fund gambling addiction (15 December 2014)
A former estate agent who rented out his parents’ home and fraudulently accepted deposits from potential tenants has been given a two-year suspended sentence. Read more...
Thames Water prosecuted for health and safety failings which led to worker’s death (15 December 2014)
Thames Water has been successfully prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after a worker was killed by a reversing excavator at a treatment works in Walthamstow, east London. Read more...
Rogue plumber given suspended sentence for endangering tenants’ lives (15 December 2014)
A plumber has been prosecuted after work he carried out at a rented property endangered the lives of tenants. Read more...
Cosmetic surgeons who perform aesthetic procedures may be committing criminal offence, says Home Secretary (12 December 2014)
Home Secretary Theresa May has warned that surgeons who carry out procedures to give women a “designer vagina” may be as guilty of a crime as those who carry out female genital mutilation (FGM) procedures. Read more...
Launch of London’s “Quietways” cycle routes planned for May (12 December 2014)
London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced that the capital’s first cycle-friendly “Quietways” will open in May 2015. Read more...
Council house tenant who abandoned home pleads guilty to benefit fraud charges (12 December 2014)
A 53-year-old London woman who abandoned her own council home to move in with her husband, continued to claim £9,000 in housing benefit and council tax, Tottenham Magistrates’ Court has heard. Read more...
NCA and GCHQ to track paedophiles on the dark web (12 December 2014)
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the UK’s intelligence agency GCHQ are to work together to track paedophiles who use the so-called “dark web” to carry out their activities. Read more...
Domestic violence victims “lack support” as a result of Legal Aid cutbacks (11 December 2014)
A new report claims that support services in the criminal justice system for victims of domestic violence and rape have suffered as a result of cuts. Read more...
Scout Association apologises and pays compensation to victims of historic child abuse (11 December 2014)
The Scout Association has issued an apology to victims who were sexually abused by scoutmasters in the organisation. Read more...
Man impaled on railings outside Marylebone flat identified as business tycoon at centre of divorce battle (11 December 2014)
A man who fell to his death from a flat in Marylebone, central London on Monday (08/12/14) has been identified as 52-year-old Scot Young, a business tycoon who had been at the centre of a bitter divorce battle. Read more...
“Dangerous” paedophile out on licence, after Appeal Court quashes open-ended sentence (11 December 2014)
A leading Appeal Court judge has released a dangerous paedophile from prison, despite acknowledging that he remains a danger to the public. Read more...
DPP supports CPS decision to pursue case against mental health patient who killed herself (10 December 2014)
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Alison Saunders has said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was right to purse a case against a woman with mental health issues who had made allegations of rape which evidence suggested were false. Read more...
London councils to vote on fixed penalties for anti-social spitting (10 December 2014)
Local authorities across London are expected to agree to introduce on-the-spot fines for spitting at a meeting on Thursday (11/12/14). Read more...
London must build on Green Belt land, says property consultant (10 December 2014)
A new report from the London Society has called for more homes to be built on the Green Belt around London, saying that it cannot be treated as “sacrosanct” given the current shortage of affordable housing. Read more...
10-year-old dies after becoming entangled in curtain cord (10 December 2014)
A ten-year-old boy with learning difficulties has died after becoming entangled in a curtain cord at his family’s home on the Isle of Wight on Sunday (07/12/14). Read more...
Britain’s skills shortage means companies rely on EU workers (9 December 2014)
The UK’s skills shortages have led to many sectors having to recruit workers from EU member states at elevated wages. Read more...
High Court overturns government ban on sending books to jails (9 December 2014)
The High Court has overturned a ban on sending books to criminals in prison. Read more...
Police failed to answer more than 1m 101 calls in 2103 (8 December 2014)
A Freedom of Information request has revealed that more than one-quarter of police forces across England and Wales are failing to hit their targets for answering the non-emergency police number 101. Read more...
20 years in jail for “gigolo” who killed fiancée in Paris hotel room (8 December 2014)
A court in Paris has jailed a British man who killed his fiancée in a hotel room after starting an affair with another woman. Read more...
EU’s ageing population data shows that Britain needs migrants (8 December 2014)
Figures from Eurostat show that unless the UK continues to allow freedom of movement across borders and immigration to the UK, the economy in Britain will suffer as the population continues to age. Read more...
Woman with mental health condition who buried her baby alive pleads guilty to infanticide (8 December 2014)
A Latvian woman with mental health problems who lived in a London graveyard after escaping a life pf prostitution has admitted burying alive the child she gave birth to in 2012. Read more...
Teaching assistant convicted of child cruelty (8 December 2014)
A teaching assistant who taped a seven-year-old girl to a chair and subjected her to the ridicule of her classmates has been convicted of cruelty at Bradford Crown Court. Read more...
Scrap metal dealer fined £1,200 for advertising his services over truck’s PA system (8 December 2014)
A scrap metal dealer who used a PA system on his truck to advertise to potential customers has been prosecuted by his local council. Read more...
Tougher mortgage rules lead to unanticipated drop in house sales (8 December 2014)
A report issued by the Office for Budget Responsibility has revealed that stricter rules for mortgage applicants relating to their income and expenditure resulted in a sharper fall in house sales than anticipated. Read more...
£75m social housing boost for Salford, after Salix Homes takes over ownership from council (8 December 2014)
The city of Salford in Greater Manchester has received a £75 million boost for social housing to be spent over the next five years, after residents living in Local Authority properties voted to transfer their council-owned homes to Salix Homes, unlocking the cash boost in the process. Read more...
AA predicts “blackout backlash” from motorists, as councils switch off road lights at night (8 December 2014)
A new report by the Automobile Association (AA) has revealed that the rate of road traffic accidents increases on roads which are unlit or poorly lit. Read more...
Labour calls for review of LASPO amid concern it has favoured defendants (8 December 2014)
Labour Shadow Justice Minister Andy Slaughter is calling for an early review of the government’s Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (LASPO), over fears that the reforms affecting personal injury (PI) claimants have “tipped the balance too far in favour of the defendant”. Read more...
Norfolk and Suffolk mental health trust facing Monitor review over £2m debt (8 December 2014)
Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) is to be investigated by the mental health watchdog Monitor, after accumulating a debt in excess of £2 million in the last financial year. Read more...
Laundry firm fined after worker has fingers amputated (8 December 2014)
A laundry firm based at Woking in Surrey has been prosecuted, after a 57-year-old female worker lost four fingers after her hand was drawn into an inadequately guarded ironing machine. Read more...
Evictions soar as welfare reforms bite (8 December 2014)
Housing charities are calling for more measures to protect tenants as the number of evictions by bailiffs as a result of debt and rogue landlords soars. Read more...
Victims withdraw from giving evidence at Child Sex Abuse Inquiry (5 December 2014)
Victims of alleged historical child abuse have written to Home Secretary Theresa May saying they are withdrawing from the official inquiry into chid sexual exploitation because they have lost confidence in the government investigation. Read more...
Appeal Court rules woman who drank while pregnant and harmed unborn child “did not commit criminal offence” (5 December 2014)
A court has ruled that a mother who drank heavily while pregnant and whose baby was born with alcohol-related disabilities is not guilty of a crime. Read more...
Archbishop of Canterbury blames TV for making child abuse “reasonably acceptable” (5 December 2014)
The Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Reverend Justin Welby has blamed television for making “a culture of abuse” appear acceptable in society. Read more...
Motorist denies causing death by dangerous driving, after “confusing brake and accelerator” (5 December 2014)
Blackfriars Crown Court has heard how a 33-year-old mother died in front of her husband and son – and an American student lost an eye and suffered brain damage – after an elderly motorist allegedly confused the brake with the accelerator while out driving. Read more...
Appeal Court backs ex-wife who gave up career for high-flyer husband (4 December 2014)
The Appeal Court has overturned a High Court judgment against a divorcee seeking more of her ex-husband’s fortune – meaning she will now be able to continue her case to win more of an estimated £11 million fortune. Read more...
Bereaved family claims should have parity with Scotland’s PI laws (4 December 2014)
The president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has called for equality between bereaved families making compensation claims in England, Wakes and Northern Ireland – and those making PI claims in Scotland. Read more...
Spurned lover denies murdering ex he stabbed to death in the street (4 December 2014)
A court has heard how a nurse was repeatedly stabbed by her former lover, who stalked her after she ended their relationship. Read more...
New Stamp Duty rates apply from today (4 December 2014)
The Chancellor’s changes to Stamp Duty are effective from today (04/12/14), meaning homebuyers whose homes are below the £1 million threshold will save money. Read more...
New Child Abuse Image Database to launch in December (3 December 2014)
David Cameron is to launch the government’s Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) at an Internet safety event on 11 December. Read more...
Mubenga’s last moments described by G4S guard at Old Bailey (3 December 2014)
A court has been told of the last moments of deportee Jimmy Mubenga, who died after being restrained on a flight to his native country Angola. Read more...
New regulations come into force to protect minors from pornography (3 December 2014)
The government has introduced new laws to restrict pornographic material in the UK from this week. Read more...
Poland may veto UK’s attempts to limit out-of-work benefits for EU migrants (3 December 2014)
As many as 4,000 European migrants unable to find employment in the UK could face losing their Jobseeker’s Allowance under new plans being considered by the government. Read more...
Child abuse paediatrician jailed for 22 years (2 December 2014)
A leading children’s doctor who practised at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridgeshire has been given a 22-year jail sentence after being convicted of child abuse against his former patients. Read more...
London Mayor defends Battersea Power Station redevelopment’s “lack” of affordable housing (2 December 2014)
London Mayor Boris Johnson has hit back at critics of the Malaysia Square development centred on Battersea Power Station, saying that the lack of affordable housing in the development has been compensated for by the developer investing in the Tube to Battersea. Read more...
Recommended changes in law may make parent- child abduction a crime (2 December 2014)
Changes in the law which would make parent-child abduction across international borders a criminal offence have been set out after an 18-month consultation involving Reunite’s Legal Working Group and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Child Abduction. Read more...
Social housing stock “depleted by Right-to-Buy” (2 December 2014)
The Local Government Association has said that social housing stock is becoming depleted because local councils do not have the funding to replace homes sold under Right-to-Buy. Read more...
More money for GPs in Chancellor’s Autumn Statement NHS windfall (1 December 2014)
Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that his autumn budget statement will include an extra £2 billion for the NHS – including extra money for GPs. Read more...
Parental leave sharing comes into force (1 December 2014)
The government’s plans to allow parents to share parental leave come into force today (01/12/14) – meaning that parents whose child is born after 5 April 2015 will have the option to share maternity and paternity leave. Read more...
Family lose appeal to remain in UK, after injury makes them miss visa deadline (1 December 2014)
An Australian family currently living in Warwickshire are facing deportation after illness caused them to miss the deadline for renewing their visas. Read more...
Container survivors claim asylum in UK (1 December 2014)
It is reported that 34 illegal immigrants who entered the UK in a shipping container have applied for asylum in Britain. Read more...
Wife awarded £337m divorce settlement may fight on for more (1 December 2014)
The High Court has awarded the American wife of a UK financier a £337 million divorce settlement. Read more...
Building company prosecuted, after plasterer falls from height (1 December 2014)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has successfully prosecuted a building company, after a plasterer fell from height while working at a six-bedroom mansion in Cheshire and broke his back. Read more...
Suspended sentence for possessing imitation firearm with intent (1 December 2014)
Burnley Crown Court has spared a woman jail, after she was convicted of waving a pistol at the landlady of a local pub at Haslingden, in Rossendale, Lancashire. Read more...
Lambeth Council repossesses property from rogue landlord (1 December 2014)
Lambeth Council has taken possession of a three-bed house which belonged to the council in the 1970s, but was passed on to housing associations on a short-life contract. The property eventually ended up in the hands of a rogue landlord, who converted it into an eight-bed property and made £40,000 a year in rent, despite the property being in serious disrepair. Read more...
Sleeping drug prescribed by NHS linked to risk of committing crime (1 December 2014)
A sleeping pill prescribed by the NHS to around 750,000 patients could result in patients committing crimes. Read more...
Concern over NHS mental health bed shortages, after 16-year-old is held in police cell for two days (1 December 2014)
The case of a 16-year-old girl with mental health issues who was kept in police custody for two days because of a lack of mental beds has highlighted the plight of thousands of mental health patients unable to access mental health services and beds. Read more...
Women’s mental health beds may be lost in Norfolk (1 December 2014)
A women’s inpatient mental health unit in south Norfolk – which also serves Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) – has learned that the local county council will not be renewing its contract because of costs. Read more...
13,000 trafficked workers may be working as slaves across UK (1 December 2014)
Latest figures from the government’s National Crime Agency’s Human Trafficking Centre estimate that there are around 10,000 to 13,000 people working as modern-day slaves in the UK, having been trafficked into Britain. Read more...