09/05/12

Stuart Alford successfully prosecutes David Folley following a vicious murder

Sheet metal worker David Folley, 35, was convicted of murdering Inderjit Singh with a dagger in the early hours of Christmas Day 2010 and will serve a minimum of 26 years.

The confused victim, described as a ‘quiet, calm, gentle, fun–loving man’ was looking for a friend’s address, but ended up outside Folley’s front door in Bedford and was stabbed to death on the landing.

The prosecution say this defendant took a knife from his flat and cut the throat of Inderjit Singh, leaving him to die on the staircase of the block of flats,’ prosecutor Mr. Stuart Alford told the court.

Folley had arrived home in the early hours, after an all–day drinking session during which he downed up to fourteen pints, and murdered Mr. Singh soon afterwards.

Tiny spots of airborne blood were found on the defendant’s jeans, placing him at the scene at the time of the fatal stabbing.

 Click here to read the full report 

01/05/12

Felicity Gerry makes submissions to the Justice Department of the European Commission in Brussels on the Procedural Rights of children and vulnerable persons

On the 26^th of April 2012, Felicity attended a meeting in the Justice Department of the European Commission in Brussels on the Procedural Rights of children and vulnerable persons as part of the impact assessment for future legislation. 

Following up on the Roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings endorsed by the Council of Europe by resolution in 2009 the European Commission is currently preparing an impact assessment concerning the Commission proposals for a Directive on the right to special safeguards for suspected or accused persons who are vulnerable pursuant to Measure E of the Roadmap. Agreement has been reached on Directives on the right to translation and interpretation (Measure A) and the right to information in criminal proceedings (Measure B) which have now been formally adopted. 

The purpose of the meeting was to streamline discussions focussing on the specific measures which might be necessary to protect the rights of children and young persons in order to draft the proposed directive at Measure E. Felicity made submissions together with experts from across the member states.

 The meeting a success and very helpful input for the ongoing impact assessment, particularly where many member states have little or no legal provision in this area.

30/04/12

Read our April e–newsletter

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27/04/12

Read the Judgment Summary in the case of Charles Taylor – Kathryn Howarth was in The Hague for the verdict

Click Here to read the Judgement.

Kathryn Howarth has been a member of the prosecution team in the case since 2008. She called and cross–examined witnesses and drafted many of the legal pleadings in the case, including the subpoena of Naomi Campbell.

26/04/12

Charles Taylor found guilty in The Hague – Kathryn Howarth a member of the prosecution team was in The Hague for todays historic verdict

Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia was today convicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Sierra Leone during its eleven year war. Judge Lussick, presiding, handed down the verdict of the court in The Hague.

Charles Taylor, who was indicted while he was still President of Liberia and is the first former Head of State to be convicted by an international criminal tribunal since the Nuremberg trials in 1946.

Taylor was convicted of all counts of the Indictment on the basis of aiding and abetting the Sierra Leonean rebel groups. He was also found guilty of planning, with Sam Bockarie, the attacks on Kono, Makeni and Freetown in late 1998 and early 1999.

He will be sentenced by the court in May.

Kathryn Howarth has been a member of the prosecution team in The Hague since 2008.

Click here to read the news report:

BBC 

The Guardian

The Telegraph

25/04/12

Emilie Pottle travels to Libya to advise on transitional justice issues

 Emilie will assist Brussels–based NGO No Peace Without Justice in holding a series of conferences with Libya activists and lawyers considering transitional justice issues.    “This is a crucial time for transitional justice in Libya, with the International Criminal Court apparently prepared to consider the Libyan government’s request to try Saif Gaddafi in Libya.  The conferences will focus on how best to ensure accountability for the widespread abuses of the former regime”

Previously, Emilie worked as a Legal Stagiaire (Intern) with the Presidency of the International Criminal Court, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.  Emilie joined Chambers in October 2009 after the successful completion of her pupillage.  She continues to advice on international criminal law matters as well as building a domestic criminal practice focusing on fraud and trading standards cases.

24/04/12

Our congratulations to Adrienne Lucking on winning the ‘Barrister of the Year’ Award at the Leicestershire Law Society Annual Dinner & Awards Ceremony on Friday 20 April 2012.

Adrienne is a member of our highly regarded Criminal Team and her win follows on from the success of Will Tyler of our Family team who one last year’s award. Adrienne’s CV can be downloaded here.

18/04/12

Kathryn Howarth prosecutes a woman who stole more than £330,000 from a Northamptonshire care home to fund a luxury lifestyle

The ex–financial manager of a care home for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems abused her position to steal £300,000 then forced accounts to cover her tracks.

Jenny Glanister, aged 51, was warned to prepare herself for prison after she admitted thefts and frauds committed over a six–year period.

At Northampton Crown Court, she admitted a campaign of dishonesty committed while employed at Oakfield care home in Easton Maudit, near Bozeat. She pleaded guilty to stealing money almost from the moment when she started work at the home.

Northampton Crown Court heard from Kathryn Howarth how Glanister, 51, of Northampton, spent the cash on clothing and jewellery.

Glanister was sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment and told she had plundered the home’s funds.

Click here to read the BBC report
Click here to read the Daily Mail report
Click here to read the Telegraph report

17/04/12

Felicity Gerry was interviewed by Sir David Frost on his Al Jazeera online programme Frost Over the World on the issue of human trafficking.

New figures from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) show a massive increase in the levels of human trafficking. It is a global problem – victims are frequently tricked with offers of jobs in wealthy foreign countries before being forced into prostitution and forced labour. There are estimated to be 27million slaves around the world, but the real number could be higher. Around 50 per cent of trafficking victims are younger than 18–years–old.

On Friday 13^th April 2012, Felicity and Sir David discussed sex–trafficking and what can be done to combat it internationally. Click Here to watch the full interview.

17/04/12

Stuart Alford tells Channel 4 “Why Britain has been unable to deport Abu Qatada?”

As France swiftly expels two radical Islamists, Channel 4 News looks at why the British government is finding it so difficult to remove radical cleric Abu Qatada.

Stuart Alford, co–chairman of the International Bar Association’s war crimes committee, told Channel 4 News that France could argue that the deportations were necessary because of this month’s attacks in Toulouse. He said this justification could rest on France facing an “immediate threat” following Mohamed Merah’s murder of three Jewish children and a rabbi,whereas no–one was suggesting Britain faced a similar threat at the moment.

Mr Alford, who has prosecuted for the UN and was an adviser to the judges in Saddam Hussein’s trial, said: “The UK has always by reputation taken very seriously the risk of receiving an unfavourable judgment from the European court. It has always considered due process of law, which includes the right to take a case to the European court as an important part of what the UK stands for.

“When push comes to shove, we tend to fall in line with commitments we have made to various legislative and judicial bodies and when an appeal goes to the European court, we implement what it says. We live with these judgments because that is our system of law, because we have made commitments and brought it into our legislation through the human rights act.” This would remain the case unless Britain amended the human rights act, said Mr Alford.

One reason for Abu Qatada’s success in the courts could be the skills of the lawyer representing him, Gareth Peirce, best known for her work on behalf of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six.

Mr Alford said “tenacious representation” had an important part to play in Britain’s adversarial legal system. “Because of the nature of an adversarial system that pitches the individual against the state … there is probably some margin of difference in the way these cases are pursued. The role of a defence lawyer in France and other continental systems is very different because they don’t have an adversarial system.”

Theresa May told the BBC’s programme aired on 23 March: “What I’m working on is getting the assurances that do enable us to deport Abu Qatada. That’s my aim because if I do it in that way then I can assure that the deportation is sustainable. And that’s what I want to ensure, once Abu Qatada is deported from the UK, he remains deported from the UK.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We want a lasting solution that means Qatada is deported for good. This case has dragged on for over a decade and we are exploring every legal avenue to get this dangerous man on a plane and out of the UK.”

10/04/12

March e–newsletter

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10/04/12

David Ball advises the OFT on its investigation into discount voucher company Groupon

The following is taken from a report in The Lawyer Magazine:

 The regulator gave Groupon, which is the trading name for MyCityDeal, three months to improve the way it operates after finding widespread consumer protection rule breaches. David Ball, who is one of our preferred counsel for the Equality and Human Rights Commission and who has previously worked at Liberty, was instructed by the OFT’s in–house legal team. They expressed specific concerns over “pricing advertising, refunds, unfair terms, and the diligence of its interactions with merchants”. 

The OFT has ordered Groupon, which instructed Matthew Arnold & Baldwin partner Mark Weston, to inform it of any complaints in these key areas and will monitor them closely. Enforcement orders could follow any further breach. The OFT investigation was launched in July last year following customer complaints. 

Groupon offers promotional deals to subscribers for a range of services such as restaurant meals and beauty treatments. In December, the Advertising Standards Authority was prompted to make the referral after Groupon was found to have broken UK advertising regulations multiple times in less than a year. 

Groupon management accepted that the company’s rapid growth had outpaced its procedures and processes and it had co–operated fully with the investigation and signed agreements. Groupon’s lawyers have agreed on a number of undertakings, including accurate, honest and transparent advertising, clear limitations on deals, fair terms an conditions, substantiated claims and applying refunds and cancellation rights online.

28/03/12

Piers von Berg prosecutes a Metropolitan Police Officer for assaulting a boy aged 14.

 The City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court recently handed down verdicts in a case where Territorial Support Group (TSG) officers were accused of common assault. 

PC Karl Bartlett was convicted of assaulting a 14 year old passenger of a vehicle causing minor injuries. PC Read was acquitted of assaulting the driver of the vehicle and PC Nye was acquitted of assaulting the passenger during the same incident.

 The verdicts came after a four day trial in which a 14 year old complainant and another 10 year old witness both gave evidence.

Click here and here to read the reports.

26/03/12

Joe Spicer successfully prosecutes Facebook paedophile Liam Shields at Northampton Crown Court.

 The Defendant posed as a child on social networking sites and encouraged children to expose themselves and perform sexual acts at his direction over a webcam. He bullied and coerced children into continuing to appear on webcam for him. To some he exposed himself and performed sexual acts in front of children.

Joe was instructed at an early stage and drafted the 42 count indictment reflecting offences committed against 14 children aged between 9 and 13 years old. The Defendant pleaded guilty to all counts.

He was sentenced by HHJ Tomlinson to a term of 7 years imprisonment.

Click Here to read the full report

26/03/12

Felicity Gerry appears in the appeal of R v Anthony Cox[ 2012] EWCA Crim 549 (1st March 2012) an important case before the Court of Appeal dealing with special measures for vulnerable defendants where a fair trial was held in a rape trial that Felicity prosecuted, despite the absence of an intermediary but with considerable adaptation of the trial process

 The Court held that in the context of a defendant with communication problems, when every sensible step taken to identify an available intermediary has been unsuccessful, the next stage is not for the proceedings to be stayed, which in a case like the present would represent a gross unfairness to the complainant, but for the judge to make an informed assessment of whether the absence of an intermediary would make the proposed trial an unfair trial.  

The trial concerned an allegation of rape. The complainant had screamed so loudly that local residents had been alerted and called police. The defendant was arrested almost immediately. He denied the offence. It took some time for relevant medical reports to be obtained but eventually a trial held in July 2011 led to conviction. The appellant had  complex psychiatric difficulties. Considerable efforts were made to investigate the extent of his multifactorial problems and the appropriate steps to address them in the context of a trial for rape.

Three intermediaries were approached but that each felt unable to provide the necessary assistance.  The Ministry of Justice, through the Policy Officer for Vulnerable and Intimidated Witnesses, informed the court that every attempt had been made to find a registered intermediary for the case, without success. The real problem was communication with the appellant, and that it was in that context that assistance was needed. 

The trial judge decided that the situation was far from ideal, but with a number of modifications to the ordinary process, the appellant would indeed be afforded a fair trial.  The single ground of appeal was that, notwithstanding the care with which the judge approached these issues, and the provision of competent counsel and solicitors, the appellant was deprived of special measures in the form of an intermediary necessary to enable him to play a proper and effective part in the trial. That ground was rejected and the conviction for rape upheld.

26/03/12

Simon Harding and Jessica Franses, civil and commercial barristers attended the TEFAF Maastricht Fine Art Fair from 19th March until 22nd March 2012 to discover the needs of the art trade.

 The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in Maastricht was held from 16^th to 25^th March 2012. It is the leading Fine art fair in Europe and arguably in the World.

2012 was a special year for TEFAF marking its 25^th year anniversary. At this event over 260 galleries from all over the world come to Maastricht to show fine art and collectors, dealers and art enthusiasts come to Maastricht for an incredible art experience. At no other exhibition will you see so much art of such an extraordinary high quality. There are numerous vetting committees to ensure that the art objects on each stand is accurately described and so collectors can buy with confidence. The Art Loss Register is present too to monitor issues concerning art that is lost or stolen.

The fair is very elegant an important factor for the museum quality art that is on display. The exhibition stands are grouped into areas of specialism. The Antiques section includes Classical antiquities, Old Master drawings and paintings, Dutch and Flemish Old masters, Renaissance and Baroque paintings, Early Chinese and Asian Art, Antique furniture, silverware and ornamental art. There is a paintings section that covers 18^th to 20^th Century paintings. There is a drawings section. There are dealers in antique books and manuscripts. There is a modern art section. Finally, there is a modern design section that includes modern furniture. 

We were very privileged to be invited to the gala evening on Monday 19^th March 2012 that was held to honour the founding fathers of TEFAF. My father Michael Franses was one of the founding fathers. At this event the Governor of Limburg honoured TEFAF for its contribution to the City’s commerce and cultural heritage. The dinner was held in Museum aan het Vrijthof that had received funds from TEFAF that had contributed to restoration works at the museum. The museum also showcased a master’s collection of works that had been contributed to by the expert dealers from TEFAF.

Please see Jessica’s new Art Law blog at www.jessicafranses.com that explains the services lawyers provide the art trade, see also her article about Leonardo da Vinci called ”What Art discoveries mean for the art world, international market place and lawyers…”

22/03/12

Joe Spicer has successfully prosecuted a case involving three defendants engaged in an conspiracy to handle internationally stolen goods worth over £1.7 million.

Shiraz Khan had been charged with the handling of the stolen goods and his friend Abdul Ishaq together with Ishaq’s wife, Choudhary had been charged with laundering the proceeds of the sale of the goods. 

The stolen items were technical equipment used for the provision of broadband services which were taken during burglaries . By use of instant messaging on the internet, the stolen goods were offered for sale to companies in the UK and abroad. Khan was identified as having travelled to Canada to deliver the goods. 

The case brought together cell site analysis, mobile phone evidence and analysis of I.P. addresses linked with the Defendants. Khan pleaded guilty on the day of trial, whilst Ishaq and Choudhary were convicted on all counts after a 3 day trial at which they gave evidence.