Blog
Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
Sharon Burkill
12 July 2018
What is “sextortion” and what can you do about it?
“Celebrity Sextortion” is a new Channel 4’s programme, which airs tonight and follows Dan Lobb as he seeks to find out how a private and sexually explicit video of him was released online. The promotion for the programme refers to a Skype video sex session with a Twitter follower he had been flirting with online and it describes this worrying trend as a “very modern cautionary tale”.
6 March 2018
Time to apply the brakes: do we need a new offence of dangerous cycling?
Following the highly publicised prosecution, conviction and imprisonment of Charlie Alliston in Sept 2015 for wanton and furious cycling (he was found not guilty of manslaughter) the government announced that it would consider a change to the law and extend the offences of careless driving and dangerous driving to cyclists. This week it was (predictably) reported that such a change is likely to be forthcoming. Is this a sensible, proportionate and timely development? Or is unnecessary, ill-conceived legislation and driven more by media pressure than by public need?
1 March 2018
Coercive control and its effect on family court cases
It is now three years since the Serious Crimes Act 2015 received royal assent, creating a new offence of coercive behaviour in intimate or familial relationships. Last week the Sentencing Council recommended harsher sentences for offences in a domestic setting that have the capacity for lasting psychological and emotional effect. These changes not only have an impact on criminal cases of domestic abuse, but also divorce and family justice related cases too, because criminal proceedings often have a bearing on divorce and children cases.
21 September 2017
Divorce and coercive & controlling behaviour - Harassment’s big brother?
This summer, The Telegraph reported the disciplinary action taken against PC Wayne Hodge and found that “he was behaving in a controlling and coercive manner”. Apparently, he banned girlfriends from talking to men, wearing red nail polish or accepting Tesco deliveries if he was not at home.
6 September 2017
Youth Justice: time to change the age of criminal responsibility?
On 8 September the House of Lords will debate whether the age of criminal responsibility should be raised. This proposed reform is introduced in a Private Members Bill introduced by Lord Dholakia.