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Murder, Rape, Theft
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The media is slowly wising up to the fact that lawyers can be a corrupt breed. This is nothing new. In Victorian times, Lawyers and barristers were regarded with suspicion and contempt. They were seen as money grabbing thieves. CrimeshareTV would like to emphasise that not all lawyers are corrupt. But a great many are. The public need to be aware of this.
THE Director of Public Prosecutions has given warning that the legal system will stray into “dangerous territory” if people feel justice cannot be achieved through the courts. However, the widespread perception is that the law and the legal profession have already lost the confidence of victims and the general public. The British Crime Survey 2005-06 reflects this view: 80 per cent of respondents thought the system was fair to the accused, but only 36 per cent were confident that it met the needs of victims. The widely held opinion is that criminals receive soft sentences, paedophiles are pitied, foreign terrorists are given vast sums in legal aid and illegal immigrants who commit crimes are never deported. Ordinary people who stand up for themselves and their families are either punished or become victims. Perhaps worst of all, the rights of such victims are ignored.
Last month a judge was heavily criticised after sentencing a paedophile, who had repeatedly sexually assaulted an 18-month-old baby boy, to four years in jail. Judge Simon Hammond, sitting at Leicester Crown Court, said that Christopher Downes, 24, needed help for his “undoubted problems”. Michele Elliott, of the charity Kidscape, said: “There is something wrong when a man could admit to sexually abusing an 18-month-old baby regularly and be out of prison in two years.” The concern of campaigners is outstripped by the anger of the families of victims. Last month the family of Natalie Glasgow described as laughable the sentence imposed on Mark Hambleton, an electrician whose van hit and killed the 17-year-old girl as she walked home from a party. Hambleton was given a 100-hour community service order and banned from driving for a year. The dead girl’s father, Paul, said: “The law says it doesn’t matter whether you hit a teenage girl or a lamppost in terms of the charge of failing to report an accident. That can’t be right. It must be changed.” The apparent downgrading of victims’ rights, compared with those of the defendant, also causes anger. The defence of Kamel Bourgass, the Algerian terrorist trained by al-Qaeda who is serving life for murder and conspiring to make ricin toxins, cost the public purse £996,934 in legal aid. The family of DC Stephen Oake, who was stabbed to death by Bourgass in 2003, received only £13,000 from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. Judges reply that the legislative straitjacket is the cause of many of the current problems. The case of Craig Sweeney attracted huge attention. Sweeney was jailed for life by Cardiff Crown Court for abducting and indecently assaulting a three-year-old girl but Judge John Griffith Williams cut his minimum tariff in recognition of his guilty plea. It meant that Sweeney could be considered for parole in five years. As The Times reported last month, John Reid, the Home Secretary, said that this was unduly lenient. Vera Baird, QC, the Constitutional Affairs Minister, had to apologise after saying that the judge was wrong. The judiciary rallied round the judge, saying he had followed the law to the letter. Both Victim Support and Nacro, the crime reduction charity, say that perceived soft sentencing and the treatment of victims are separate issues. Paul Cavadino, chief executive of Nacro, said: “The sentencing in this country is harsher than most other Western Europe countries. And we have the highest prison population in Western Europe, both in absolute numbers and as a proportion of the population. “I don’t accept that you can measure how supportive a criminal justice system is to victims by the sentences given out. “It is not in the interests of victims to pass sentences that don’t reduce future offences.” A spokesman for Victim Support said: “Victims want a system whereby we deal with criminals properly and we give out punishments that are an effective deterrent. Our experience is that even if victims are happy with the result in court, the happiness is short-lived because their lives have still been altered.” Liz Jones said that she lost her faith in the criminal justice system when a teenager who smashed her cheekbone avoided a jail sentence last month. Dexter Hungwa, 16, attacked Ms Jones, a headmistress, because she had asked him to shut a door. Ms Jones, 51, said: “At first I was frightened because I thought he could turn up at any time. The experience was horrendous but when I found out that he had been given a referral order, I was really, really angry.” FACES OF THE LAW Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Lord Chief Justice: Born Nicholas Addison Phillips, he was educated at Bryanston School, Blandford, Dorset, and King’s College, Cambridge. Chaired the 1998 BSE inquiry and was Master of the Rolls until 2005. Lists his hobbies in Who’s Who as the sea, mountains and music Sir Anthony Clarke, Master of the Rolls, educated at Oakham School, Rutland, and King’s College, Cambridge. He became Head of Civil Justice in 2005 after seven years as a Lord Justice of Appeal Lord Justice Judge, President of the Queen’s Division of the High Court. Educated at The Oratory School, Woodcote, Oxfordshire, and Magdalene College, Cambridge Ken Macdonald, QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, educated at Prior Park College, Bishop Wordsworth’s Grammar school, Salisbury, and St Edmund Hall, Oxford. His hobbies, listed in Debrett’s People of Today, include 20th-century history, crime fiction and Arsenal FC Stephen Hockman, QC, Chairman of the Bar, educated at Eltham College, and Jesus College, Cambridge Nicholas Hilliard, QC, Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association: educated at Bradfield College, Berkshire, and Lincoln College, Oxford Lord Falconer of Thoroton, QC, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs: educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond, Scotland and Queens’ College, Cambridge Michael Mansfield, QC, leading human rights lawyer and defence barrister; educated at Highgate School and Keele University, called to the Bar 1967, QC 1989. He is president of the National Civil Rights Movement Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, QC: Labour peer, barrister, writer, broadcaster, member of several public bodies and committees; educated Holyrood Secondary School, Glasgow, Council of Legal Education, called to the Bar 1972, QC 1991. She is a director of The Independent newspaper and involved with Liberty, the Civil Liberties Trust, and the Howard League for Penal Reform
George opened the back door to go turn off the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things. He phoned the police, who asked "Are any of those people in your house" and he said no. Then they said, that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply stay in his house, lock his doors and an officer would be along when available. George said, "Okay," hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again. "Hello I just called you few seconds ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now cause I've just shot them all".
Within five minutes three police cars, an Armed Response unit, and an ambulance showed up at the Phillips residence. Of course, the police caught the burglars red-handed. One of the Policemen said to George: "I thought you said that you'd shot them!" George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"
The following real court exchanges are from a recently published book, Disorder in the American Courts. Everything that is said in court is recorded by court reporters, who have compiled the following collection of hilarious conversations! Q: Are you
sexually active?
Lawyers are
always more ready to get a man into troubles than out of them A lawyer with a
briefcase can steal more than a thousand men with guns America is the
paradise of lawyers Lawyers are men
whom we hire to protect us from lawyers A Lawyer will do
anything to win a case, sometimes he will even tell the truth The only way you
can beat the lawyers is to die with nothing An incompetent
lawyer can delay a trial for months or years. A competent lawyer can delay
one even longer Lawyer: An
individual whose principal role is to protect his clients from others of
his profession Lawyers are the
only persons in whom ignorance of the law is not punished A man without
money needs no more fear a crowd of lawyers than a crowd of pickpockets Lawyers should
never marry other lawyers. This is called "inbreeding," from which comes
idiot children and more lawyers A lawyer is a
learned gentleman who rescues your estate from you enemies and keeps it to
himself
A British man has been arrested and threatened with 14 years in jail for "harbouring" his Brazilian fiancee at his home in Kent. Dave Taylor, 48, spent 15 months on bail as he fought to clear his name. But hours before he was due in court, prosecutors dropped all charges -- leaving taxpayers with a bill of at least £50,000.
Today he spoke of his anger at the ordeal he
had been put through. Legal experts and race relations chiefs questioned
how the case had been allowed to carry on for so long. Critics claimed
that the effort put into prosecuting Mr Taylor was disproportionate when
the Government estimates there are 430,000 migrants living illegally in
Britain.
 Mr
Taylor -- an entertainer, who uses the stage name Rockin’ Dave Taylor --
married Brazilian nurse, Rosyane Costa-Ferreira this summer. They had
been living together in the UK for more than 6 years. He said he had
been left thousand of pounds out of pocket, and had been put on
medication for depression as a result of the wrangle. He said: "My
professional and home life have been thoroughly disrupted. I have been
under severe stress. I have waded through hundreds of pages of jargon
presented by the prosecution and spent months going through documents in
preparation for the trial. "If my experience reflects the standard of
the British justice system, I think it leaves very much to be desired."
Immigration law expert Nicola Appleton of
solicitors Lewis Silkin said: "I'm astonished that it got to this stage.
It does seem an enormous waste of taxpayers' money."
Lord Ouseley, the former chairman of the
Commission for Racial Equality, said the case left him "depressed and
despondent about the state of the management and administration in the
Home Office's immigration and nationality services". He said: "I am
staggered how anyone can penetrate this incompetent bureaucracy."
Police arrested Mr Taylor and ransacked his
home near Herne Bay, Kent, in a dawn raid in July 2004. They also
arrested and deported his fiancee, Rosyane Costa-Ferreira.
Mr Taylor, who has performed at exotic
venues worldwide, including Japan, Hong Kong and Russia, was held 2
days in a police cell. He claims he was told in his initial police
interview that he was suspected of masterminding a major
people-smuggling operation. Documents seized from his home proved
swiftly that the only foreign national he had travelled with was Rosyane
Costa-Ferreira, who had regularly accompanied him to gigs on the
Continent.
Yet he was charged under the 1971
Immigration Act on two counts of facilitating her illegal entry to the
UK and knowingly harbouring her once she was in the country.
Mr Taylor claims that a visa in Miss
Costa-Ferreira's passport would have proved that she had permission to
be in the UK. But the passport is alleged to have ‘gone missing’ among
documents seized by police. It has never been recovered.
His own lawyers advised him to plead guilty
and accept a prison term of around four years, instead of fighting the
case and risking a much longer sentence.
This issue has been taken up on behalf of Mr
Taylor by Julian Brazier, MP for Canterbury, who says he is appalled
that a British subject could be treated in this manner.
Mr Taylor, who has played with such
celebrities as Bill Haley and Chuck Berry, insists Rosyane -- now his
wife -- was in Britain legally at all times.
His wife, has now been given permission to
live in the UK by the same people who prosecuted this case, - namely the
Immigration service.
The CPS has admitted that the decision to
drop the charges, the day before the case was due to be heard in
Canterbury Crown Court, was taken on "public interest" grounds.
Mr Taylor's Legal Aid assistance cost
taxpayers more than £50,000. The final bill for taxpayers, including CPS
costs, could be well in excess of £100,000.
Sent in by Dave
Taylor
www.midnightrock.demon.co.uk
"Our solicitors added ten pounds to their bill for delivering a document by hand. We wouldn't have minded, except that their office is next door to ours! I calculate this to be a rate of around £450 a mile." The Times."I'd give my right arm..."
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Sussex police sent a Valentine to a burglar with 17
convictions as a reminder that "Our hearts are set on catching you". The
burglars girlfriend thought it was from another woman and threw an ashtray
at him. He is now suing the police - on Legal Aid. Daily Telegraph
A grammatical error turned a magistrates court procedure – aimed at curbing anti social behaviour – into an order instructing Anthony Slater to go out drinking. The order contained a double negative, making it illegal for him NOT to drink in the street. Daily Telegraph.
The
emergency Anti-terrorism bill closes an important loophole. Clause 46
means that, for the first time ‘A person who knowingly causes a nuclear
explosion … is guilty of an offence.’ Daily Telegraph
A court in Exeter jailed a man for a £100,000 benefits fraud and ordered him to pay back £20,000 – but allowed him to keep the luxury yacht on which he lives. Daily Express.
Michael O’Brien who spent ten years in prison after being wrongly convicted of murder, has been charged £37,000 for his lodgings while in jail. Daily Telegraph.
A man charged with going equipped for burglary walked free from Stafford Crown Court because evidence found on him (including a drill and a screwdriver) had been auctioned off on the internet by the Police. Guardian
Three police cars were sent to arrest a 12 year old girl who was playing with a toy gun in Bedlington, Northumberland. She had a DNA swab taken, was fingerprinted and put in a cell. The Times.
Police
“give up” on theft from cars. Their success rate has fallen to zero in
some areas. The Sunday Times.
A hamster found driving a toy racing car along the seafront at Cleveleys in Manchester has been handed over to the police. The RSPCA has confiscated his car. The Sunday Times.
Avon and Somerset police have stopped tellin the local paper about crime because they don’t want to scare the public. They only want successful prosecutions to be reported. The Sun.
The Avon and Somerset decision comes after the revelation that Lothian and Borders police halved its crime figures by recording incidents, including assaults, robbery and arson as ‘suspicious occurences’. The Times
The Derbyshire probation service uses taxis to take burglars and other offenders to a community rehabilitation course because public transport is too inconvenient. The Telegraph.
A
man given a four year sentence for fraud is suing the Prison service for
£30,000 because his bed was too hard.
Terrified Karl Moran dialled 999 when yobs began shooting at a neighbour’s home. Two weeks passed before the police responded, with a police constable telling Karl, “We’re so busy, you’re lucky we came at all.” The Sun
Extracts taken from You Couldn’t Make It Up by Jack Crossley. John Blake Publishing Ltd.
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The cartoon images used were obtained from IMSI's MasterClips Collection.
Criminals
come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, just because you uphold the law,
doesn’t mean that you are a decent citizen. The examples below may shock
you.
George
Phillips of Mississippi was going up to bed when his wife told him that
he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the
bedroom window.
Then
he hung up.
A WEALTHY city lawyer who
admitted embezzling £20,000 from clients has caused outrage after it was
revealed he was given taxpayers’ cash during his court case. Critics have
slammed a decision to pay legal aid to Richard McAnulty, 46, despite the
fact he lives in a £400,000 house, drives a Mercedes, runs a successful
chain of sandwich shops and has two children at a fee-paying school. The
Scotsman, 31 Oct 2004.