Beltrami & Company Criminal Law & Glasgow Solicitors Blog

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.

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.

Many remand prisoners in England and Wales had a poorer regime and less support than sentenced prisoners, said Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons, publishing a short thematic review.

This is despite a long-established principle that remand prisoners, who have not been convicted or sentenced by a court, have rights and entitlements not available to sentenced prisoners.

At any one time, remand prisoners make up about 15% of the prison population, between 12,000 to 13,000 prisoners. Women and those from black and minority ethnic and foreign national backgrounds are over-represented.

The Scottish Government has announced that the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 is now in force. The Act gives Scotland's police and prosecutors  additional tools to crack down on sectarian songs and abuse at and around football matches and threats posted on the internet or through the mail. 

The Act creates two new distinct offences, punishable through a range of penalties up to a maximum five-year prison sentence and an unlimited fine:

Offence A - "Offensive Behaviour"

Intended to deal with sectarian and other offensive chanting and threatening behaviour likely to cause public disorder.

The offence covers behaviour likely to lead to public disorder: