Contents Executive summary...v About the authors...ix Two tier is too dangerous... 1 By Bill Waddington, director and head of Defence Advocacy at Williamsons Solicitors and chair of CLSA Criminal legislation update... 5 By David Watts, solicitor at ZMS Legal Abuse of process...5 Dangerous dogs...7 Procedure...7 Appealing court decisions...8 Costs and legal aid...9 Anti-social behaviour...10 Sentencing...10 Criminal case news and headlines: A look back at 2014...11 By Catherine Fischl, associate, and Kate Parker, paralegal, at Peters & Peters Factors affecting sentence... 11 A new domestic violence offence... 12 FCA clamps down on dishonest behaviour outside the office... 13 Expert evidence and case preparation...17 By Rose Stringer, solicitor Part 33 of the Criminal Procedures Rules 2014... 17 H v R...19 Summary... 21 Benefit figures: Why be concerned?... 23 By Simon Walton, consultant at The Firm Solicitors LLP Joint property...23 iii
Contents Joint property: Joint role?...25 Available amount...27 Interference with the rights of the individual pre-charge... 29 By Rachel Cook, associate at Peters & Peters Bail...29 Search warrants...33 Conclusion...35 Is the criminal justice system failing defendants with acquired brain injuries?... 37 By Nicola O Connor, partner at Russell-Cooke A significant proportion of our prison population report having suffered a brain injury...37 Clients in the police station...38 Working with young people in the courts... 43 By Hakan Pettersson, criminal justice trainer The youth justice system...43 Two pillars of the youth justice system...43 Youth offending teams...44 Recent changes to the treatment of young people in the justice system...44 Points of difference between youth and adult court...46 The involvement of child services...47 Youth Rehabilitation Orders...48 Conclusion...48 Witness interviewing using the cognitive interview approach...51 By Geoff Coughlin, director at Emphasis on Skills Ltd The need for accurate and comprehensive facts...51 The relationship between interviewer and witness...51 Witness interviews using the cognitive approach...52 Developing existing skills...54 iv
About the authors Rachel Cook Rachel is an associate with Peters & Peters and works on a range of white collar crime and regulatory matters. She qualified into the Business Crime department in 2009, and her experience includes (but is not limited to) multi-jurisdictional cartel investigations, contentious FCA regulatory work, money laundering (prosecution and compliance), mortgage fraud, and tax fraud (Code of Practice 9). Rachel is consultant editor of Lloyd s Law Reports: Financial Crime. Geoff Coughlin Geoff Coughlin co-founded Emphasis on Skills Ltd in 1995, a successful learning and development consultancy known for its specialist work in training lawyers to use cognitive interviewing. This approach consists of a powerful set of memory retrieval techniques that enable lawyers to gather more accurate and less contaminated facts and evidence from their witnesses and clients. Geoff s main clients are law firms, including 20 of the 25 largest law firms in the UK. Additionally, he trains and develops panel members and chairs on Regulatory Councils and bodies. High-profile work includes training litigators to take witness statements for Eversheds in The Bloody Sunday and Shipman Inquiries. Geoff in engaged on a regular basis to carry out key interviews for some of his clients, often in high-value cases where it s essential to get at the real facts. Geoff was previously a trainer at the Metropolitan Police Training College, Hendon, and had many years experience as an operational police officer and manager with The Metropolitan Police Service. He has been a trainer and learning and development professional for over 20 years. Catherine Fischl Cath Fischl is an associate in the Business Crime department at Peters & Peters, working on both criminal and regulatory cases. She has experience across a wide variety of different areas including extradition, mutual legal assistance, general crime, fraud, bribery and corruption, police station advice, FCA and SFO investigations, and challenges to sanctions before the European General Court. ix
About the authors Recent and current work includes acting for the former deputy editor of The Sun in R v Kay & others (allegation of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office), acting for a respondent in the Court of Appeal case R v J, B, V and S and D [2013] EWCA Crim 2287, assisting with a review of a multinational company s anti-bribery and corruption policies, advising in relation to extradition requests made by the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and advising a suspect in an FCA investigation into market abuse. Cath trained at Peters & Peters, gaining experience of criminal and commercial litigation before being admitted as a solicitor in 2012. Nicola O Connor Nicola is a partner in the fraud and criminal litigation team at Russell-Cooke. She specialises in criminal defence work and undertakes both private and publically funded cases. Nicola has a large amount of experience in dealing with high profile, multi-defendant, and large scale cases. Before it was disbanded, she was on the very high costs case panel, which meant that she was recognised as being a specialist in this area. This is due to her experience in dealing with the most serious cases involving fraud, organised crime, and multi-defendant trials. Nicola is listed in Chambers 2015, where she is praised for her ability to advise and assist clients in a way that inspires confidence and progresses cases quickly and successfully. Nicola was recognised by Thomson Reuters in its 2014 Super Lawyer list. She advises individuals in relation to money laundering legislation, confiscation proceedings, restraint orders, and also those facing investigation by HM Revenue & Customs. She regularly advises and represents organisations and individuals summonsed for breaching planning enforcement notices and breaching environmental and health and safety legislation. Nicola has also advised and represented individuals working for organisations under investigation for corporate manslaughter who face interviews by police. She also advises and represents clients facing trading standards prosecutions. Kate Parker Kate Parker is a paralegal at Peters & Peters. She was called to the bar in July 2014. At Peters & Peters she is assisting with a review of a multinational company s anti-bribery and corruption policies as well as a cross-jurisdictional asset-freezing case. She will commence pupillage with 5 Paper Buildings in September 2015. x
Criminal Law Practice: An Expert Guide Hakan Pettersson Hakan Pettersson obtained a Diploma in Social Work from Sheffield Hallam University. From 1994 2000 he worked for Reed Care as an agency social worker in a number of different settings, mainly with young people in care. He also spent some time working for the Probation Services in South and West Yorkshire. In 2000, Hakan started work with Leeds Youth Offending Service and has spent most of this time working in the specialist court team. This has given him extensive experience and knowledge to support and advise colleagues, solicitors, magistrates, barristers, and the judiciary on the relevant legislation when they have to deal with young people appearing in court. Working at the Youth Court in Leeds, Hakan has discovered that there is a limited knowledge and understanding of the orders the courts can impose. He has written a course to provide a foundation for anyone that wants to work with young people in the criminal justice system, be it for the defence or prosecution in court or anyone working with young people at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system. It will provide up to date information on changes and how they are applied by the courts in Leeds. For more information, please contact Hakan at hakan17p@gmail.com. Hakan originally comes from Sweden and came to the United Kingdom permanently in 1986. During the last two years in Sweden he worked in the prison service in a maximum security prison managing the prison s recreation and social training activities. Rose Stringer Rose Stringer has extensive criminal litigation experience having worked as a solicitor specialising in criminal defence for eight years. She has previously written on the subject of expert evidence. Her other areas of interest include criminal appeals and sentencing. She has spent time in Louisiana assisting attorneys with the representation of inmates on death row. She is currently contributing to a study of the operation of the capital sentencing statute in Missouri. Bill Waddington Bill is director of Williamsons and has over 30 years of experience in dealing with all nature of cases within the criminal justice system. He is head of the Williamsons Defence Advocacy department, specialising in crime. Over the years he has dealt with hundreds of cases in many courts around the country. In addition to his specialism in crime, Bill is frequently instructed in road traffic matters and regulatory work. This involves defending individuals, businesses, and companies in investigations and prosecutions brought against xi
About the authors them by a whole host of government agencies such as HMRC, HSE, DEFRA, the Environment Agency, and local authorities. Bill is a duty solicitor (court and police station) and a high rights advocate. He is also the current chair of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association (CLSA) and a committee member of the Crime Contracts Consultative Group. Simon Walton Simon Walton has specialised in criminal law since he qualified in 1990. He currently works as a consultant for The Firm Solicitors in the West Midlands, having helped to establish and build up their business and regulatory crime department. Simon has been the supervising solicitor on some of the largest MTiC frauds, Boiler Room Frauds, and Ponzi frauds prosecuted in this country. As such, he has developed a good knowledge of the complexities of the law on confiscation and is often asked by other firms around the country to act as a consultant on specific confiscation cases they have. Simon is also a keen supporter of the CLSA and has been a committee member since 2013. David Watts David is a higher rights advocate practising with ZMS Solicitors in Leicester. He was formerly a solicitor with the CPS, an associate partner and duty solicitor with Nelsons, and a solicitor at Cartwright King. David is a member of the Central Law Training (CLT) PSR and CLAS Assessment Board as an assessor. He co-presents a course on Police Station Accreditation The Portfolio Preparation Day for CLT. xii