Legal News Articles
Duncan Lewis Immigration Solicitors Guide to Judicial Review (31 March 2015)
Judicial Reviews and Injunctions are a remedy used by Solicitors in order to solve specific issues faced by those subject to Immigration controls. Read more...
First conviction under Localism Act (31 March 2015)
A former leader of Dorset County Council has become the first person to be convicted under the Localism Act for voting on housing policy while having a pecuniary interest in a housing association (HA).
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26% rise in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking specialist mental health services (31 March 2015)
Specialist mental health charity Combat Stress has revealed that mental health referrals to the charity’s services for Armed Forces personnel have risen by 26% in the last year. Read more...
26% rise in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking specialist mental health services (31 March 2015)
Specialist mental health charity Combat Stress has revealed that mental health referrals to the charity’s services for Armed Forces personnel have risen by 26% in the last year. Read more...
Former nurse pleads guilty to sexual abuse of unconscious patients (31 March 2015)
A former nurse who worked at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford has pleaded guilty to 27 counts of rape, sexual assault and voyeurism, which took place at the hospital, a leisure centre and while at a music festival. Read more...
Former Appeal Court judge says cuts to Legal Aid may result in “serious miscarriages of justice” (31 March 2015)
A former leading judge has told BBC1’s Panorama programme that he fears the government’s cuts to Legal Aid may lead to “dire consequences”, involving serious miscarriages of justice for people who have to represent themselves in court because they cannot afford a solicitor or barrister. Read more...
Aina Khan’s Register Our Marriage Roadshow comes to Birmingham 28th March 2015 (27 March 2015)
Family Solicitor Aina Khan’s “Register our Marriage Roadshow” will be coming to Birmingham on 28th March 2015. Read more...
Curry owner facing manslaughter charge over peanut-laced curry (27 March 2015)
The owner of a takeaway is to face charges after he served a curry containing peanuts to a customer with a peanut allergy, who later died. Read more...
Home Secretary proposes “deport first, appeal later” policy for illegal immigrants (27 March 2015)
Home Secretary Theresa May has proposed that if the Conservatives win the General Election in May, the Home Office would introduce a “deport first, appeal later” policy – with asylum seekers being deported to their home countries before being able to appeal against Home Office decisions in the UK. Read more...
Parents of British tourist who died on scuba diving trip demand answers from Australian authorities (26 March 2015)
The parents of a British tourist who died on holiday while on her first scuba dive have called for a full investigation into why she was apparently left alone during a supervised training session off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Read more...
Met Police liable for £400k legal costs, after Taser victim wins court battle (26 March 2015)
The Metropolitan Police are to pay £400,000 in legal costs, after a court ruled they had used unreasonable force when officers used a Taser on a man they had stopped. Read more...
People with depression may perceive time as passing more slowly, say researchers (26 March 2015)
Researchers from Johannes Gutenberg-Universität in Mainz, Germany have found that for those with depression, time appears to move more slowly. Read more...
Husband calls for more awareness of domestic abuse towards men, after former wife is jailed (25 March 2015)
A former special constable from Peterborough has been jailed after she poured scalding water over her husband after he had asked for a divorce. Read more...
Grandson of Cardiff woman killed in dog attack remanded in custody (25 March 2015)
A 23-year-old Cardiff man whose American bulldog killed his grandmother on Friday (20/03/15) has been remanded in custody after the case was sent to Cardiff Crown Court. Read more...
Westminster Council to buy back 45 Right to Buy flats at £20m cost (25 March 2015)
Westminster Council is the latest London council to announce it is to set aside millions of pounds to buy back council homes sold under the Right to Buy scheme. Read more...
Disciplinary hearing told paramedic “went shopping” while pensioner waited in ambulance (24 March 2015)
A disciplinary hearing has heard how a paramedic on call shopped in Marks and Spencer while an elderly patient with sepsis was waiting in an ambulance to be taken to hospital. Read more...
MPs blame Schengen Agreement as migrant numbers at Calais “nearly double” (24 March 2015)
A report by the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee has revealed that there is evidence illegal immigrants arriving in EU member states are making their way unchecked across EU borders to Calais, to await transport to the UK in the back of lorries. Read more...
Law Society fears advising witnesses about defence case might prejudice fairness of trials (24 March 2015)
The Law Society has said that informing witnesses in criminal cases of the general nature of the defence case might jeopardise the fairness of trials. Read more...
Jail for mother who cannot remember killing her partner (23 March 2015)
A mother who killed her partner in a drunken row has been jailed for seven years and told she must serve half the sentence, even though she cannot remember attacking him. Read more...
Calls to scrap police discretionary disposal powers (23 March 2015)
Police have been accused of creating a “charter for criminals” by introducing a scheme under which a crime can be dismissed if the cost of investigating it outweighs the value of the item stolen or damaged. Read more...
Fears that scrapping paper driving licence counterpart may increase fraud (23 March 2015)
The AA has warned that scrapping the paper counterpart of the driving licence could cause confusion – and lead to an increase in fraud and scams to steal a driver’s personal details. Read more...
£100,000 damages for husband whose wife conceived IVF baby with former boyfriend (23 March 2015)
A man whose businesswoman wife knowingly conceived a child at an IVF clinic using another man’s sperm has been awarded £100,000 in damages, after a judge ruled he had been deceived into thinking the child was his. Read more...
Father speaks out after motorist who left his daughter with catastrophic brain injuries is jailed for bar attack (23 March 2015)
A father whose daughter received severe injuries in a car crash – leaving her unlikely to reach adulthood – has spoken out, after the driver who ploughed into her into 2006 was jailed for an attack on two men in a bar last April. Read more...
Kuoni denies liability for couple’s Zanzibar holiday food poisoning (23 March 2015)
A couple who fell ill with symptoms of holiday food poisoning while staying at a luxury hotel in Zanzibar are taking legal action against tour operator Kuoni. Read more...
Staffordshire council green lights dementia “centres of excellence” (23 March 2015)
A consortium of housing developers is build two centres of excellence providing care and homes for dementia patients in Staffordshire. Read more...
Mental health budgets “cut by nearly £600m” this parliament (23 March 2015)
Research by the BBC and online journal Community Care suggests that mental health budgets have fallen by 8.25% during this parliament. Read more...
Workers trafficked into the UK rescued by police in nail bar raids (23 March 2015)
Police raids across the UK have led to the arrest of ten people suspected of involvement with human trafficking to the UK. Read more...
Islington becomes latest London borough to introduce PRS landlord licensing scheme (23 March 2015)
The London Borough of Islington (LBI) has become the latest London Borough to introduce a licensing scheme for private sector landlords to protect rental tenants from unscrupulous landlords. Read more...
Homeless teenagers fleeing family breakdown “failed by local councils” (23 March 2015)
The Children’s Society says that more than 8,000 young adults aged 16 and 17 who are facing homelessness are sent home to their parents, without any support put in place to ensure they are not abused or neglected in their family homes. Read more...
A&E targets missed 24 weeks consecutively (23 March 2015)
New figures from NHS England have shown that target waiting times for A&E patients have fallen to below the minimum level of 95% of patients seen within fours hours for the 24th consecutive week. Read more...
Hackney MP calls for private landlords in London to be licensed (23 March 2015)
Labour MP Dianne Abbott is calling for private rental landlords in London to be licensed to prevent their tenants from being exploited as a result of paying high rents for poor quality accommodation. Read more...
Councils should use pension pots to build affordable homes says Labour Minister (23 March 2015)
Labour Shadow Minister for London, Sadiq Khan MP, has called for local councils to use pension funds to fund house building in their boroughs to help solve the housing crisis. Read more...
Private sector landlord fined £5,000 for disrepair (23 March 2015)
A mother has described how her ceiling collapsed after her landlord failed to repair a leak at the property. Read more...
Crime hotspots to be protected using SmartWater anti-burglary liquid (23 March 2015)
London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced that in the next three years 440,000 London households will be issued with anti-burglary “water” which marks items with a unique code that will link criminals to burglaries. Read more...
Call for lower drink-drive limit for women “to reflect effect of alcohol on women’s bodies” (23 March 2015)
Stress in the lives of women is making professional women in their forties more likely to be caught for drink-driving than men of the same age. Read more...
Warning that Brexit could make 2m UK nationals working in EU “illegals” overnight (20 March 2015)
The former Attorney General Dominic Grieve has said that if the UK exited Europe, around two million UK nationals working in the EU would become illegal immigrants “overnight”. Read more...
BBC reporter uncovers illegal immigrants being smuggled out of the UK and back in to avoid deportation (20 March 2015)
A BBC investigation has found that some illegal immigrants in the UK are so desperate not to be deported back to their home countries that they are being smuggled back of out Britain to claim asylum in Italy – before being smuggled back in. Read more...
Ministers call for anonymity for rape suspects – and a cap on police bail (20 March 2015)
A report by the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee says that men accused of rape and later acquitted of the charges can face irreparable damage to their lives. Read more...
Man who attacked wife and left her to die changes plea to guilty before trial (20 March 2015)
A man who attacked his wife and left her to die on the kitchen floor while he went to work has confessed to the killing. Read more...
New laws on tax avoidance target offshore tax dodgers (20 March 2015)
The government has unveiled a raft of new measures to make bankers and company bosses criminally liable if they help clients avoid paying tax. Read more...
Council leader warns of more births before admission if local maternity unit closes (20 March 2015)
The leader of Ealing Council Julian Bell has warned that closing a local maternity unit in west London could mean more women having to give birth at home if ambulances could not reach them on time. Read more...
Help to Buy ISA launched to help homebuyers save for a deposit (19 March 2015)
The government is introducing more help for young homebuyers under its Help to Buy scheme, with a Help to Buy ISA announced in the Chancellor’s Budget on Wednesday (18/03/15). Read more...
“Torture chamber” serial rapist jailed for life (19 March 2015)
A serial rapist who evaded justice after his first victim could not testify has been jailed for life at Blackfriars Crown Court. Read more...
Arrests made in £21m money laundering investigation (19 March 2015)
The police have arrested seven people on the Isle of Man and Guernsey and across the UK in connection with a £21m money laundering fraud. Read more...
Father of Hillsborough victim says senior policeman “apologised” outside coroner’s court (19 March 2015)
A father whose son died at Hillsborough as received an apology from the police match commander David Duckenfield. Read more...
NHS dental patients test positive for Hep C, after dentist is suspended for infection control failures (18 March 2015)
An investigation into patient safety among patients of a dentist who refused to follow NHS infection control guidelines has found that five dental patients have tested positive for hepatitis C. Read more...
NHS to record cases of vaginal piercings, amid calls to outlaw cosmetic procedures on female sex organs (18 March 2015)
In a further move to ban female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain, the Department of Health has ruled that women with vaginal piercings must be recorded as having undergone FGM. Read more...
Revenge evictions banned by government (18 March 2015)
The House of Lords has passed a Bill banning revenge evictions – also known as malicious evictions – which sometimes occur if a tenant complains to a landlord about maintenance of a rental property. Read more...
Met Police under investigation for alleged cover-up of child sex abuse by VIPs (17 March 2015)
The Metropolitan Police are to be investigated following allegations that a paedophile ring was covered up because senior police officers and MPs were involved. Read more...
Government expected to announce “complete overhaul” of children’s metal health services (17 March 2015)
Care Minister Norman Lamb is expected to set out for MPs detailed plans for a “complete overhaul” of child mental health services. Read more...
Engineering firm fined £16,000 after employee loses toes (17 March 2015)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has successfully prosecuted a Kent engineering firm after an employee lost four toes and broke five other toes after a sheet of metal fell on him. Read more...
Pharmacy apologises over alleged prescription error (17 March 2015)
A disabled woman whose prescription was mixed up with her husband’s says that her health was put at risk as a result of the blunder. Read more...
Cocaine use “firmly embedded in UK society” (16 March 2015)
A new report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has found that cocaine use has trebled among the general population in the last two decades – with peak usage occurring between 2008 and 2009, when an estimated 885,000 people aged 16 to 59 were users. Read more...
Jail for two men guilty of “biggest operation” to import Class B drugs (16 March 2015)
Luton Crown Court has jailed two men for what is thought to have been the biggest ever operation to import cannabis into the UK. Read more...
Couple cleared of Benefit Fraud after DWP archives change in circumstances letter (16 March 2015)
A couple charged with benefit fraud totalling £42,500 have been cleared after a court heard that staff at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had lost letters that would have supported their fight against the charges. Read more...
Ecology firm prosecuted after employee breaks back in fall from height at work (16 March 2015)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has successfully prosecuted an ecology consultancy, after an employee broke her back in a fall at a former psychiatric hospital site in Essex. Read more...
Petition against Norfolk County Council’s child care cuts reaches 1,000 signatures (16 March 2015)
A petition opposing cuts to child minding services by Norfolk County Council has been signed by 1,000 people, local publisher EDP24 reports. Read more...
Just 28% of recorded rapes sent to CPS, says HMIC (16 March 2015)
New figures from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) show that nearly three-quarters of rapes against adults and children in England and Wales are not passed to the Crown prosecution Service (CPS) by the police. Read more...
Mortgage Market Review “causing delays to mortgage applications” (16 March 2015)
Homebuyers are being made to wait for up to two months for the result of their mortgage application, as lenders examine paperwork detailing their outgoings, including spending on leisure activities such as gym membership. Read more...
Ealing Council obtains “exceptionally robust” SPO to tackle drug dealing (16 March 2015)
Ealing Council has announced that officers from its safer communities team have obtained an “exceptionally robust” Suspended Possession Order (SPO) to tackle a household in the borough known as a centre for drug dealing. Read more...
Lesbian who attacked female friend spared jail after breaching restraining order (16 March 2015)
A lesbian who trapped a female friend in her home and sexually assaulted her has been spared jail, despite breaching a restraining order by text messaging her victim. Read more...
NHS England missing cancer targets, say MPs (16 March 2015)
The Commons Public Accounts Committee has said cancer care in England has lost momentum and the NHS is struggling to meet waiting targets. Read more...
London Assembly passes motion in support of more social housing (16 March 2015)
The London Assembly has passed a SHOUT motion to reaffirm the value of social housing being built in the capital. Read more...
New law will force England’s landlords to install smoke and CO alarms (13 March 2015)
Housing Minister Brandon Lewis has announced that from October 2015, all private sector landlords in England must install smoke alarms and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in properties they rent out, to protect tenants from the risks of fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. Read more...
£5.25m for birth injuries after 16-year battle for compensation (13 March 2015)
A woman whose baby suffered brain injury during delivery has been awarded £5.25 million after a 16-year battle for compensation. Read more...
Security firm boss sues Met Police over use of Taser (12 March 2015)
A 53-year-old grandfather from Edmonton in north London who was tasered by police after buying a luxury car previously linked to gun crime is suing the police for damages. Read more...
Work Programme failing London’s jobless mental health patients, say LibDems (12 March 2015)
Business Secretary Vince Cable has warned that the government’s flagship Work programme to help jobseekers claiming benefits back into work is failing Londoners with mental health conditions who are jobless. Read more...
Ex-wife of eco tycoon can claim against fortune he acquired after their divorce (12 March 2015)
The Supreme Court has ruled that the ex-wife of a green energy tycoon who divorced him 23 years ago is entitled to claim from the fortune he acquired after their divorce. Read more...
Home Secretary postpones decision on use of water cannon in London (12 March 2015)
The controversial decision to allow the Metropolitan Police to deploy water cannon in the event of civil disorder has been put on hold by the Home Secretary until after the General Election in May. Read more...
Report calls on government to secure future of state nurseries (12 March 2015)
A new report into state nurseries is warning that local authority budget cuts are making local state nurseries vulnerable to closure. Read more...
Murdered bride’s father has arm re-attached after work accident (12 March 2015)
The father of a bride shot dead on her honeymoon in Cape Town has had his arm re-attached after the limb was torn off in a work accident. Read more...
Conflict prone binary thinking:the Home Office’s obsession with detaining asylum seekers (9 March 2015)
Since the late 1980s, as the overall number of asylum-seekers has risen the U.K has responded with an increasingly restrictive policy of deterrence. Read more...
Concerns for young father missing with baby son he wants custody of (6 March 2015)
A young father who has gone missing with his eight-month old son has sent police a message via social media saying they are “fine” – and telling police to “go look for some killers”. Read more...
Varicose vein surgery patient dies from blood clot after hospital fails to complete thrombosis risk assessment (6 March 2015)
The widower of a woman who died after routine surgery for varicose veins is considering take legal action against Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital over her death. Read more...
London borough launches Talk for Health NHS mental health project (6 March 2015)
The NHS in Islington is funding a Talk for Health project – a peer counselling programme which involves the setting up of groups to promote mental wellbeing. Read more...
London Fire Brigade issues warning about fridge freezer fire risks (5 March 2015)
London Fire Brigade (LFB) is warning households in the capital to be aware of fire risks associated with faulty fridges, which cause on average one fire every week in London. Read more...
Mother and her partner plead guilty to child neglect (5 March 2015)
The mother of a neglected five-year-old boy and her partner are due to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court in April after pleading guilty to child cruelty. Read more...
12-month community order for £25k benefit fraud (5 March 2015)
A woman who claimed benefits fraudulently by claiming she had separated from her husband has been sentenced to a 12-month community order for falsely claiming £24,137.98 in benefits. Read more...
Furness Hospital failings “a small scale Mid-Staffs” (4 March 2015)
An investigation into Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust has found that the deaths of 11 babies and one mother at the hospital were the result of major failures in care. Read more...
Father allowed to adopt son his own mother carried after IVF (4 March 2015)
A father whose own mother gave birth to his biological son has won the right to apply to adopt him, despite the fact the baby is also his brother. Read more...
Girls sexually abused in Oxfordshire “failed by the police and the authorities” (4 March 2015)
A retired detective has told BBC News that there is “no hiding” from failures to protect children from child abuse and grooming in Oxfordshire. Read more...
Migrant numbers at Calais fall, as more succeed in reaching UK (3 March 2015)
The number of refugees waiting at the Port of Calais to cross to the UK has dropped as record numbers manage to reach the UK in the back of lorries. Read more...
Compensation for family, after father dies from painkiller overdose after work accident (3 March 2015)
The family of a cable fitter who died after taking an accidental overdose of painkillers after a work accident has been awarded a five-figure sum in compensation. Read more...
Mother tells Channel 5 of catalogue of domestic abuse – from own children (3 March 2015)
A mother from Southampton has told a Channel 5 programme how she used to lock herself in her bedroom to avoid an onslaught of violence from her own children when they returned home from school. Read more...