Mentally Ill Kept In Police Cells.

A mentally ill man was put into police custody for more than 3 days without appropriate treatment for his illness, which amounted to degrading treatment in custody. The applicant was arrested on December 6th 2004 in the early morning because he was highly agitated, was continuously sounding the horn of his car and they later found his aunt seriously injured as a result of his actions. Following his arrest, a psychiatric expert found that the suspect was mentally ill after assessment and needed to be detained at a hospital in the interest of his and others' health. This assessment was confirmed by another specialist. Efforts were made to put the suspect into a clinic with a medium secure unit. However, because the suspect might be charged with an offence they kept him in custody and after a consultant forensic psychiatrist at the clinic said that the clinic's involvement was not immediately necessary. The suspect stayed in custody for more than 3 days, During this time he was unstable, shouting, taking off all his clothes, drinking from the toilet, banging his head against the walls and covering himself in food and faeces. After this period of detention, there was not sufficient evidence to charge him and he was taken in handcuffs to the clinic where he received treatment. In mid 2006, the accused suspect logged claims against the NHS about his delay before getting treatment. His claims were rejected by the Birmingham County Court in late 2007. The European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, in determining that the treatment of this applicant while in police custody in Birmingham, had reached the threshold of degrading treatment in violation of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court also held, by 6 votes to 1 that there had been no violation of article 13 of the Convention, which guaranteed an effective remedy. The mentally ill man's detention (which was more than 3 days in police custody), without appropriate assistance, had diminished his human dignity and amounted to degrading treatment. HS&Co have blogged in the past about the lack of care for mentally fragile suspects in police custody. We have dealt with many a client who appears 'normal' but to our knowledge, has difficulties. The mere allocating of an 'Appropriate Adult' does little in our experience to assist but to appear to be fair to the accused and to comply with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. We have had clients with conditions on the Autism range who are poorly catered for by the police when detained. One young client with severe Aspergers is often arrested and his behaviour misunderstood. Another client had serious and permanent brain injuries and yet is ostensibly normal. In these cases we often have an uphill struggle to attempt to obtain justice. In Your Defence, HS&Co Solicitors.

Rude Tube

A Drunken racist rant by Jacqueline Woodhouse on the Central line tube got more than 200,000 views on Youtube. District Judge Michael Snow condemned Jacqueline for the rant and jailed her for 21 weeks. 'Anyone viewing it would feel a deep sense of shame that our citizens could be subjected to such behaviour who may, as a consequence, believe that it secretly represents the views of other white people.' the judge said. Jacqueline was drinking at a retirement party before the incident, in which she called passengers 'foreign f****** s***heads' and admitted to causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress. She was banned from travelling on the underground or the Docklands Light Railway while drunk for five years.

'Innocent But In Prison.'

A justice campaigner has warned that there are dozens of innocent people behind bars for crimes they did not commit. Innocence Network UK was investigating 100 potentially unfair convictions, says Dr Michael Naughton, who is a member of this group. He spoke out after Sam Hallam was freed after spending 7 years in prison for the murder of trainee chef Essayas Kassahun in London. Dr Naughton told BBC Radio 4 that the Criminal Cases Review Commission refused to look into some genuine cases when some other "factually guilty" people get off on technicalities. HS&Co are often asked to review potential miscarriages of justice. However, we would only do so on a private fee basis. Ideally, we would prefer to act for suspects from the very beginning of cases to be most effective. We have an exemplary record of achievement at the investigation stage, often getting cases dropped or avoiding a court case.

Juror - Wish you were here?

Three weeks into a robbery trial at Preston Crown Court, a juror flew off to holiday in Malta. Janet Chapman had been given a sick note from her GP the day before, citing a back problem. Judge cross at Maltese sojourn and returned courtesy with 56 days imprisonment. Two holidays then?

Right of Suspect to Legal Advice

Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, otherwise known as PACE, suspects have a right to legal advice if interviewed under caution at a police station or custody centre. This is the same whether as volunteer or as a detained person. However interviewees under caution at another location, for example the home address, may not be told of this option. The Association of Chief of Police Officers (ACPO) has encouraged officers to maintain PACE standards when interviewing away from the station. The current requirement is that the person must be cautioned before interview and if at the home address, recorded contemporaneously. This is often done in a pocket book. At the end of the interview the person must be given a chance to read the record and sign as to its accuracy. If PACE codes have been violated or circumvented, a challenge may be made to this supposedly tainted evidence under section 78 of PACE. HS&Co and our sister branch of M23Law firmly believe that modern methods should be employed to record this issuing of rights before any interview away from the police station. Past experience has left us sceptical about the timely and proper uttering of the right to independent legal advice. This does not have to be from the local duty solicitor source but from specialist nationwide firms such as ours. There should be an addition we believe in that the suspect should always be informed that he or she has a right to legal advice at any time in the process, whether Legal Aid or on a private instruction. HS&Co are increasingly acting in police stations throughout Wales & England on a privately funded basis; without any State support. 'In Your Defence' is our motto.

Double Jeopardy - Historic Rape.

A 60-year-old man was sentenced last month at Reading Crown Court to 8 years imprisonment for a rape committed 26 years ago.This was after the CPS successfully applied to quash his previous not guilty verdict for the offence, using the Double Jeopardy legislation.The defendant McGuire plead guilty after forensic evidence relating to the rape victim matched his DNA profile. HS&Co are experienced in this field of historic sexual crimes and we utilise our own forensic experts when preparing a case.