Street Crime Increase

The Office For National Statistics reports that overall crime is down. This contrasts with the latest 'Crime Survey For England & Wales' which talks of increases in "personal acquisitive crime." We know them as muggings, pickpocketing and thefts. This category rose by 13% in 2011 to 1.9 million.
Domestic burglaries were apparently down but in our experience, these are often downgraded to theft or criminal damage. Indeed, thefts from buildings rose by 5% and this includes the growing trend of theft of metal from roofs due to increased prices in the metal markets.
Serious sex crime rose by 2%.
Labour reckon that the Coalition Government is cutting 16,000 police officers. HS&Co and M23law detect growing problems with officers time dealing with the paperwork on arrests, often taking hours. Our lawyers travel throughout the country representing suspects and we notice a growing lack of morale in the rank and file police. There is an increased use of poorly trained PCSOs and how long before they get the power of arrest after attending a two day session at Hendon?
In November, newly elected Crime Commissioners will need to spotlight the reality of criminal acts in their bailiwick and see through the fog of statistics.
The pernicious bureaucracy is all pervasive in the justice system, such as in the quango run Legal Aid sector. Increasingly, suspects are contacting this firm to represent them on a private basis. This applies to both the investigation and court stages.

My Old China

A gang chiselled into Durham University’s Oriental Museum and stole two Chinese artefacts, an 18th century jade bowl and a Dehua porcelain figurine. These two artefacts are worth over £2 million. It took the thieves over half an hour to get through the wall of the museum and roughly 60 seconds to take the artefacts in what the police said was a “well planned operation.” After making five arrests, the police didn’t find the artefacts and alerted ports around the country. The artefacts have now been recovered and two of the culprits are being searched for by detectives. HSandCo represent the accused in these types of situations all over England & Wales. In Your Defence, it's what we do.

Cautious on Cautions?

According to research by the Magistrates Association, some 7,000 criminals have been cautioned on 10 separate occasions or more. Because of these relatively soft out of court penalties, there is concern that serial criminals are avoiding court. In 2009, figures show that more than half a million serial criminals have been "let off" with repeat cautions. The stats for the period 2000 to 2008 show 554,247 were given at least two cautions, including 51,874 who were cautioned on four separate occasions and 104,915 three times. One in seven of all cautions were for violence in 2010, ergo 40,000 violent offenders avoided court. Contrast this with the Lord Chief Justice saying that violent criminals should always be taken to court. Society might want the police to err on the side of caution and to discriminate more in the aplication of cautions. In saying all this, HSandCo have had excellent results in recent times in achieving cautions for our clients on serious matters.

Rape and Consent: England & Wales.

There is a case currently taking place at Caernarfon Crown Court where two footballers have denied raping a 19 years old female in a Premier Inn hotel, near Rhyl in North Wales.
HSandCo represent on a lot of these serious allegations where the issue is often consent or continuing to consent. The sexual act may or may not be disputed.
We have considerable experience in defending suspects on these sensitive sexual matters.
We are frequently called to a police station or custody centre to act for male detainees.
This is known as the 'Solicitor of Choice' option. We can attend anywhere in Wales & England; 24 hours a day.
The investigation stage is crucial as is the necessary detailed preparation for any subsequent trial. We can utilise our forensic science experts to facilitate the proper exploration of issues.
There may also be a need to trace and obtain evidence from witnesses.
The earliest possible call to us is advisable once an accusation is made. We have particular experience in defending young suspects.
In Your Defence.

Sexual Acts Against Children

Sexual Acts Against Children The Government has been encouraged to act as figures show that over 400 children are sexually abused every week; 1 in every 20 minutes. In England & Wales, there were over 23,000 recorded child sex offences in 2011. These include a whole range of offences that HSandCo regularly deal with such as rape, incest, child prostitution and child pornography. The NSPCC want the Government to treat this plethora of offences as if it were dealing with an outbreak of chronic diease. The cost in the Met Police area is about £36 million a year investigating child abuse. This contrasts with an estimated £40 million bill for probing phone hacking by the News of the World and their ilk. The ratio seems to be 6 times as many girls were abused as compared with boys. However, in the experience of the Sexual Offences team at HSandCo a considerable number of offences in this sometimes delicate or difficult area of work go unrecorded. There also seems to be differing resources employed by each of the 43 police forces of England & Wales.