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Crime brief: 10 February 2023

10 February 2023 / David Walbank KC
Issue: 8012 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Criminal , Public
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Misconduct which undermines public trust in the police clearly warrants severe punishment, says David Walbank KC
  • Double murder of sisters in London park.
  • Officers guarding crime scene took and distributed photographs of victims.
  • Sentencing for misconduct in public office.

It has been a difficult couple of years for the Met. London’s police force (assuming it is still acceptable to refer to the capital’s constabulary as a ‘force’ rather than a ‘service’) has found itself under pressure from all sides. Its policing of public demonstrations against continuing misogynistic violence in society, following the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, elicited howls of protest. The heinous crimes of the serial rapist, David Carrick, and his sentencing hearing earlier this week, have shocked the nation. Its attempts to keep the metropolis moving, despite the best efforts of Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil to bring gridlock to the streets, were met with weary resignation by angry commuters. Its decision-making in relation to COVID restriction-busting

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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