Beltrami & Company Criminal Law & Glasgow Solicitors Blog

In an interesting development, Greater Manchester Police has announced that its officers are to begin recording whether someone has been a victim of an alternative sub-culture hate crime. The move will typically affect groups such as Punks, Emos and Goths.

A former stockbroker who was convicted of defrauding investors of millions of pounds has been ordered to pay £1 after being declared bankrupt, reports the Independent.

Nicholas Levene was jailed for 13 years last year after pleading guilty to 12 counts of fraud, one count of false accounting and one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

Three men have been sentenced to a total of 9 years and 6 months imprisonment at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Petr Kupka, Michal Rondos and Vladimir Fojtik were convicted on 1st March 2013 in relation to their involvement in a large-scale, long-running international economic migration fraud.

A national campaign has been launched to warn UK investors they risk falling victim to thousands of pounds worth of fraud if they fail to take simple steps to check who they’re investing with.

The Lord Advocate has reported on the success of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012.

The Supreme Court has reaffirmed, in a unanimous decision, the importance of the ancient common law writ of habeas corpus, human rights organisation JUSTICE has announced.

Scotland’s Chief Statistician has published Domestic Abuse Recorded by the Police in Scotland, 2010-11 and 2011-12. The publication presents key statistics on the number of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by police forces in Scotland.

A new evidence based report examining the experiences and treatment of children and young people who died in prison custody in England and Wales has been published by INQUEST and the Prison Reform Trust.

The Home Secretary has announced that Gary McKinnon will not face extradition to the US.

Recent research has found that the majority of people support tagging criminals. Three quarters of the public (72%) support tagging prisoners out on parole until the end of their sentence, while nearly two thirds (64%) support the use of ankle tags for those serving a community sentence.

Cutting edge satellite technology is to be brought to Scotland to track offenders for the first time following the signing of a new contract, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has announced.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has given its Chamber judgment in the case of James, Wells and Lee v. the United Kingdom.

The public are being asked for their views on the operation of important border security powers in a consultation launched by the home office.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has adopted his opinion on the amended Commission proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of 'EURODAC' for the comparison of the fingerprints of asylum seekers.

As part of its legislative agenda for 2012-13, the Scottish Government has announced its intention to introduce a number of bills that will impact on the criminal justice system in Scotland.

Fines collection remains strong across Scotland and a report issued by the Scottish Court Service shows that 90% of the value of sheriff court fines imposed over a three year period from 2008 to 2011 has either been paid or is on track to be paid through instalments.

Since 2008, more than 430,000 enforcement orders have been granted by the courts and more than 94,000 of these have been for deductions from benefits. Enforcement officers have also agreed revised terms in 140,000 accounts.

Online facilities now enable most fines to be paid round the clock. Just over 8000 transactions totalling £350,000 were made through this site during July, with online payments reaching £1.8 million during the 2011-12 financial year.

Most fines, including parking or police tickets, can now be paid online. Only fines which involve the endorsement of a driving licence with penalty points cannot be paid electronically including some police traffic tickets and penalties issued by the Safety Camera Partnerships for speeding or running a red light.

A man has been sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh to five years imprisonment after being found guilty of rape and theft occurring in March 2011 in Glasgow.

The case was prosecuted under the new Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, specifically the provisions which set out that if a victim removes consent during sexual intercourse, and the accused continues, then the crime is one of rape.

Advocate Depute Gillian Wade, Head of the National Sexual Crimes Unit and prosecutor in this case, said:

“The new Sexual Offences Act, which came into force in 2010, sets out clearly what constitutes consent, and Scotland’s expert prosecutors will continue to use this legislation to its full.”

The very existence of secret courts currently being legislated for by the Government may itself be a secret, human rights organisation Reprieve has claimed.

According to Reprieve, during debates in the Lords on the Justice and Security Bill, ministers confirmed that the fact the Government has applied for a Closed Material Procedure (CMP) – a process in which the public, press and the claimant is excluded from the court – could itself remain a secret.

CMPs would already allow the Government to present secret evidence to a judge without challenge from the other side in the case, in a process which is at odds with Britain's open and adversarial tradition of justice. This new development lays open the possibility that the very occurrence itself of a CMP would not be made public.

Reprieve's Executive Director, Clare Algar said: "This is a deeply disturbing development, reminiscent of super-injunctions in its excessive secrecy. Yet instead of merely covering up footballers' indiscretions, these courts could be used to sweep serious state human rights abuses – such as torture – under the carpet. If this Bill passes, it will badly damage centuries of British legal tradition and make it far harder for the citizen to hold the state to account."

The latest Business Crime Index from AXA Insurance shows levels of crime committed against businesses in the UK have grown by 16% in the worst hit areas, while across the UK the cost of theft has increased significantly alongside a rise in the use of violence.

The findings, taken from AXA's business insurance claims records to end May 2012, suggest that the riots of last summer contributed to an overall 3% increase in the level of crimes against businesses during the last twelve months. However, riots aside, the increase reflects a general and continuing upward trend of crime against business in the last two years with a 3% increase also recorded for the previous year.

The most common crime committed against business is theft, accounting for around 74% of the total volume. And while numbers of thefts have risen only slightly over the last twelve months there has been a significant rise of 6% in the average value of theft claims to just under £4000. The number of thefts involving force or violence has also increased by around 6%.

Aside from riot claims, arson was the crime that saw the biggest rise last year with around 10% more cases while malicious damage claims against businesses dropped by around 10%.