Despite the absence of certain evidence at trial, the appellant’s convictions for sexual assault and rape of his half-sister were safe, because the totality of the trial process including the directions given and the summing up was fair.
Despite the absence of certain evidence at trial, the appellant’s convictions for sexual assault and rape of his half-sister were safe, because the totality of the trial process including the directions given and the summing up was fair.
ABUSE OF PROCESS ASSAULT BY PENETRATION CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE JURY DIRECTIONS POLICE INTERVIEWS PREJUDICE RAPE SEXUAL ASSAULT SEXUAL ASSAULT OF CHILD UNDER 13 WITNESSES
A sentence of five months’ imprisonment which had been imposed on a father following his conviction for sexually assaulting his two-year-old son was unduly lenient. The offence merited a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment together with the imposition of a sexual offences prevention order.
NORTHERN IRELAND SENTENCE LENGTH SENTENCING SEXUAL ASSAULT OF CHILD UNDER 13 SEXUAL OFFENCES PREVENTION ORDERS UNDUE LENIENCY
As the Attorney General had a statutory responsibility to personally consider whether sentences should be referred to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient, it was inimical to the public interest for judges, when exercising their discretion as to the provision of a transcript of a sentence hearing, to restrict or limit the provision of such information on such a request from the Attorney General.
ABUSE OF POSITION OF TRUST COMMUNITY SENTENCES CONDITIONAL DISCHARGE CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1988 Pt IV s.36(1) CRIMINAL PROCEDURE JUDGES POWERS RIGHTS AND DUTIES SENTENCING SENTENCING GUIDELINES SEXUAL ASSAULT TRANSCRIPTS UNDUE LENIENCY
Where the admission of hearsay evidence of a person who had died was sought under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.116(2)(a), in the proviso in s.116(5), that if the circumstances (namely that person’s death) were caused “(a) by the person in support of whose case it is sought to give the statement…” [then the evidence would be inadmissible], “person” meant the defendant or somebody acting on his behalf, not the deceased person.
ADMISSIBILITY BEST EVIDENCE CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE DISCHARGE OF JURY GOOD CHARACTER HEARSAY EVIDENCE SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH CHILDREN SUICIDE
A grandfather’s convictions for the sexual abuse of his granddaughter were upheld. There was no proper basis for rejecting the granddaughter’s original complaints, which had been detailed in her ABE interview and maintained throughout the trial, and the reliability of a retraction statement she made shortly after sentencing had to be rejected.
APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTION ASSAULT OF CHILD UNDER 13 BY PENETRATION CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FALSE STATEMENTS FRESH EVIDENCE RETRACTION SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH CHILD FAMILY MEMBER
The jury directions given at the trial of a well-known publicist for historical sexual offences had not been inadequate or unfair, and his conviction for indecent assault was safe.
CONSENT CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FRESH EVIDENCE HISTORICAL OFFENCES INDECENT ASSAULT JURY DIRECTIONS SEXUAL GROOMING SUMMING UP
A Practice Direction was issued amending Practice Direction (CA (Crim Div): Criminal Proceedings: General Matters) [2015] EWCA Crim 1567. New sections were inserted or amendments were made to paragraphs concerning the overriding objective, trials in absence, expert evidence, identification for the court of issues in the case, trial adjournment in magistrates’ courts, trial adjournment in the Crown Court, impact statements for businesses, investigation orders and warrants in the Crown Court, referral of cases in the Crown Court from the resident judges to the presiding judges, allocation of business within the Crown Court and listing of hearings other than trials.
ABSENCE ADJOURNMENT BUSINESSES CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CROWN COURT EXPERT EVIDENCE INVESTIGATION ORDERS MAGISTRATES’ COURTS OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE REFERENCES SEXUAL OFFENCES TRIALS VICTIM IMPACT WARRANTS YOUTH COURTS
There might be cases where guidance from the trial judge on myths and stereotypes in rape cases would be appropriate to benefit a defendant, but the instant case, in which the defendant was charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice after making repeated and false allegations of rape, was not one of them. Given the evidence called, even if the guidance had been given, it would not have assisted the defendant.
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE JURY DIRECTIONS PERJURY PERVERTING THE COURSE OF JUSTICE RAPE SENTENCE LENGTH SENTENCING STEREOTYPING VICTIMS
Total sentences of six years and nine months’ imprisonment and six years’ imprisonment imposed on a male and female offender respectively following guilty pleas to child sex offences were lenient, but not unduly lenient. The female offender had sent the male offender images of her and her daughter, aged between two and six, engaging in sexual activity. The offending had been rightly categorised in Category 2A of the relevant guideline and the judge’s approach to sentencing was not flawed.
ABUSE OF POSITION OF TRUST CAUSING CHILDREN TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY FAMILIAL CHILD SEX OFFENCES INDECENT PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHILDREN SENTENCING UNDUE LENIENCY
A judge had been entitled to refuse severance of an indictment, meaning that an offender was tried for historic and recent counts of child sexual offences at the same time. The Criminal Procedure Rules 2015 r.3.21(4)(a) had removed the technical barriers to joinder in appropriate cases: where evidence on one count would be properly admissible on the other as evidence of bad character it was hard to argue that the offender would be prejudiced in his defence by having both counts on the same indictment. In the instant case, the recent counts would have been admissible as bad character evidence at the offender’s trial on the historic counts and vice versa.
BAD CHARACTER CHILD SEX OFFENCES CRIMINAL PROCEDURE HISTORICAL OFFENCES INDECENT ASSAULT INDECENT PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHILDREN JOINDER PREJUDICE SEVERANCE
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