The Sentencing Council is consulting on a new guideline for some of the most commonly prosecuted firearms offences. At the moment, guidance is to be found only in case law, and this can lead to a challenging sentencing exercise. The purpose of the guideline is to provide consistency in sentencing, and the impact assessment does not suggest that any general increase in sentences is to be expected, although in many instances the Sentencing Council was met with a weak evidence b

The prosecution, via the Attorney General, has the right to ask the Court of Appeal to consider whether sentences for certain offences are unduly lenient. How does the scheme work? Anyone can ask the Attorney General to consider whether a sentence is unduly lenient. If the Attorney agrees an appeal will be lodged within 28 days of that sentence and the court will consider the matter. This scheme is essential protection against sentences that are too lenient. Can it be used fo

A cut-throat defence is where one defendant gives evidence that is damaging to a co-defendant's case, sometimes going as far as directly accusing the other person of the crime, while typically seeking to exonerate themselves. Such evidence may be given directly by a defendant (or more than one in some cases) as a positive aspect of their case or elicited by prosecution questioning. Either way, it can make for an uncomfortable moment during the case when one defendant is pitte

We interchangeably use many terms to describe legal professionals: lawyers, solicitors, legal advisers, attorneys (an Americanism), a 'brief'. There are countless others in common usage. Regrettably, this flexibility with language allows for confusion, and when viewing many legal websites, you would be forgiven for thinking that you are dealing with a qualified legal professional, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. The distinction between a 'real' solicitor

Is it possible to know the sentence you might get before you plead? In some cases, yes, and that might be enough for a defendant to plead guilty. For some, if they know they won’t go to prison, then they won’t fight a trial. In the Crown Court a sentence indication can be sought by asking for a ‘Goodyear direction’. The point of the Goodyear procedure is to allow a defendant to make the choice to plead guilty, which remains entirely their own, with as much information as poss

The Government has published new plans to make the roads safer for everyone. The plans include several changes for people at every stage of life, and also for more specialised drivers like HGV drivers and motorcycle riders. Children The Department for Transport has granted funding of £225,000 to Good Egg Safety to develop a training course for fitting child seats. This is in response to information that most parents don’t know how to install a child seat in their car correctl