Law Weblog

Murder conviction overturned after 27 years due to DNA evidence

Thursday 19 March 2009 at 10:23 pm | In News | Post Comment

57-year-old Sean Hodgson was present in the dock to hear the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and two other senior judges in London, rule that his 1982 murder conviction was “unsafe”.

The safety of the conviction was reviewed in the light of new DNA evidence – which showed that he could not have been the murderer.

News report here

Maths too hard? Pay French homework website to do it

Tuesday 10 March 2009 at 10:58 pm | In News | Post Comment On faismesdevoirs.com (domyhomework.com), children will be able to buy answers to simple maths problems for 5 euros (4.40 pounds), while a full end-of-year presentation complete with slides and speaking notes will cost 80 euros.

News report here

£10,000 a year for not working – £35,700 starting pay

Tuesday 10 March 2009 at 10:48 pm | In News | Post Comment

City law firms are offering graduate recruits up to £10,000 each to stay away from the office for a year.

The move has been driven by the credit crunch, with firms fearing that trainees will not get sufficient experience.
One leading firm, Norton Rose, has invited 55 recruits — whose starting salary is £35,700 — to defer joining, at a likely cost of £200,000.
Story here

“Soft” sentences make law a joke

Tuesday 3 March 2009 at 9:05 pm | In News | Post Comment

The Mirror and the The Sun are reporting that the use of the Community Order and Suspended Sentence Order is delighting criminals who do not complete the orders and when breached do not go to prison.

They are quoting a report by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King’s College London.  The report is based on analysis of government statistics about the use of the Community Orders or Suspended Sentence Orders and interviews with 25 probation staff and 16 people subject to the orders.

The press release is here.

Violent attacks by teenage girls treble

Monday 2 March 2009 at 7:03 am | In News | Post Comment The Youth Justice Board found that girls under 17 were behind almost 23,000 violent attacks in England and Wales last year – more than 60 every day.

The researchers found that Britain’s binge-drinking culture was partly to blame for a rise in so-called “ladette” violence. Approximately one in three girls aged 15 to 16 admitting that she binge-drinks in the a survey.

Though young men still carry out far more crimes, the gap between the sexes is closing.

News report here.