June 2011 Archives

After meeting Louis Walsh at a Westlife concert in Dublin last year, 24-year-old Leonard Watters accused the X Factor judge of indecently assaulting him in a nightclub toilet.

But the claims made by Watters were found to be false and yesterday (29 June) he appeared at a hearing at Dublin District Court where he was charged under section 12 of the Irish Republic's Criminal Law Act.

The Garda Síochána has confirmed that they have ceased investigating the allegations against Louis Walsh.

A recent court ruling has left police "running around like headless chickens" as they will be restricted to bailing suspected criminals to four days before they must be charged or released completely.

The previous bail system allowed police officers to hold suspects at police stations for up to 96 hours but they could also release suspects on bail for weeks or even months while further inquiries were conducted, and then call them back in later for questioning.

The new ruling, made by a Salford Magistrates' Court district judge and upheld by Mr Justice McCombe in the high court, means that if suspects are not charged within the 96-hour limit they will have to be released and cannot be arrested again until new evidence is found.

Reduced spending on the UK High Street has caused many companies to struggle recently. The women's fashion retailer Jane Norman is the latest to suffer, going into administration earlier this week.

The company, founded in 1952, operated 94 stores across the UK and Ireland as well as many concessions in department stores such as Debenhams and a further 90 international operations, and employed approximately 1,600 people.

The company faced severe cash flow difficulties and had debts of £140 million.

Charlie Sheen's recent erratic behaviour was well documented in the media, as was the subsequent reaction of his employers on the television show Two and a Half Men. After firing Sheen from the show, the creators have been rumoured to have killed off his character to ensure he can never return.

Celebrity news website TMZ reported that the writers of Two and a Half Men have been discussing ways of writing out the character Charlie Harper from the show for good. One potential scenario could involve the character driving his car off a cliff.

Earlier this year, Sheen was fired from the show when his "statements, conduct and condition prevented him from performing his essential duties".

A farmer is being prosecuted for criminal damage after he used his mini-digger to flatten his neighbour's hawthorn hedge without any prior warning.

Jeffrey Warren, from Wickford in Essex, is claiming that he flattened the 'prime English hedgerow' for road-safety reasons. The damage could take up to five years to repair and has cost his neighbour, Nicole Ivison-Hatch, £4,900.

Mr Ivison-Hatch used the field to keep horses in and it is now no longer suitable for this purpose as the hedge is too low.

Philip Morris has launched legal proceedings against the Australian government for its plans to remove all company logos and branding from cigarette packets and replace them with colour pictures of the consequences of smoking.

The cigarette manufacturer is claiming the government's plans will breach a bilateral trade treaty between Australia and Hong Kong, where the owner of Australian affiliate Philip Morris Ltd, Philip Morris Asia Ltd, is based.

The company is the first of the tobacco companies that have threatened legal action to file a notice of claim. It is arguing that the ban on logos will severely diminish the value of its trademark, which is property belonging to the company and is protected by the treaty.

With personal injury compensation claims continuing to soar, UK motorists are likely to face insurance premium rises of up to 40% in 2011.

Evidence presented to the Transport Select Committee by a leading actuarial consultancy (EMB), points towards tackling the rising fraud which "remains the major factor in motor insurance price rises".

The EMB report highlights Accident Management Companies, with an array of dubious practice and erroneous fees, as a major contributor to the problem. It revealed that in 1990 20% of all UK motor insurance costs were attributed to personal injury claims, while in 2010 the figure stands at more than 50%.

The senior orthopaedic surgeon at Guy's Hospital, who disrupted the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister's photocall last week when he reprimanded them and their media entourage for failing to comply with hygiene requirements, has reportedly been put on gardening leave by the hospital.

A patient has told the Independent newspaper that a registrar at the hospital told him David Nunn, 57, had been reprimanded for the incident and sent on leave.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg were visiting the hospital for a photocall to announce the u-turn for plans for the NHS. They were accompanied by a television crew and several journalists.

The internet has famously made having an affair easier, with social networking sites providing ample opportunity to meet old or new love interests, and providing a number of ways to get in contact with them.

However, the availability of new spy technology that allows a person to spy on their partner means evidence of an affair is now relatively easy to gather. There is a growing 'infidelity industry' in the UK that consists of selling spy technology, conducting surveillance, and setting up 'honeytraps'.

People can now buy 'spyphone' software that logs details of all text and calls, and allows a person to listen in to a call being made on the phone. They can also buy keyloggers for computers that log websites visited,web-chats, and emails sent.

Yesterday (20 June) the new Continuous Insurance Enforcement law came into action which aims to target uninsured drivers.

Previously, motorists who were caught driving an uninsured vehicle were prosecuted, but now it is an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle even if it is parked, unless the vehicle is declared off-road.

Motorists whose cars are found to be uninsured will receive a letter from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) which gives them an opportunity to buy insurance, or declare their car off-road (SORN), before they are punished with either a £100 fine, wheel clamping, having their car seized and destroyed and even court prosecution.

A Devon-based law firm has angered local Church leaders by coming up with a scheme to attract new clients: free divorces.

Follett Stock Solicitors has offered its free divorce service through its website, Twitter and on flyers to all clients who apply before 30 June.

They claim that, by giving free divorce services, the firm is helping "people who want a divorce but can't afford it".

Sweeping changes to medical negligence laws in the UK are being discussed detailing how medical negligence is to be removed from legal aid altogether while those bringing negligence claims are to pay fees and premiums out of their own compensation.

With more than 6,000 negligence claims handled by the NHS Litigation Authority in 2009/10 and related legal fees for the same period standing at over £120million, the argument for reform is almost inevitable.

It is the consumer who will appear to lose out twice though with no access to legal aid and the fee re-structure apparently rendering Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) as an ineffective means to recover compensation.

The internet has made watching and downloading films so easy that not all films available online are there legally. TorrentFreak, a news blog about BitTorrents and file sharing, releases a yearly top ten list of the most pirated films.

The numbers show that illegal downloads have been increasing every year, and that in 2010 there was the most downloads of a film in a single year. This dubious award was given to the number one most pirated film ever, Avatar.

One film in the 2010 list that didn't make it onto the most pirated ever list, The Hurt Locker, proved far more successful as an illegal download than at the box office. As a result, the filmmakers sued thousands of people alleged to have used BitTorrent to share files.

Tom Condliff has been told by his doctors that he will die unless he receives a gastric bypass operation soon, but his local health authority claims they cannot afford to fund the operation.

Mr Condliff will fight North Staffordshire primary care trust's decision at the court of appeals on 11 July and the result could have a huge impact for patients in similar situations across the country.

Mr Condliff, a former police officer, originally brought his case to the high court where Judge Waksman stated that primary care trusts need not take into account Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, the right to a private and family life, when making decisions about funding drugs and therapies.

A woman who fell out with her mother stood to gain no part of the £486,000 inheritance, which had been left to various charities, until she successfully contested it under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

The ruling will likely have a huge impact on cases in the future and may mean that many families will bring claims for financial provision from a deceased relative's estate.

Melita Jackson had written a Letter of Wishes that stated she did not want her daughter Heather Ilott to receive any part of her estate, due to a falling out between the two.

Following the eviction of a family from their Blackpool council home, the European Court of Human Rights has questioned whether the UK government was acting in line with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Paul and Amanda Wilkes, and their two children, had been described as "neighbours from hell" who terrorised the other inhabitants of the Laycock Gate housing estate.

The family were accused of threatening to kill neighbours, indecent exposure, noise, graffiti and violence.

In light of David Cameron's planned reform of employment tribunals in the UK it is now important for both employers and employees to understand their implications under employment law.

Changes to the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims

One proposed change would see employees barred from taking out unfair dismissal claims during their first two years of employment, as opposed to the current minimum of one year.

After reading a text message on his wife's phone that revealed her affair, Ian Puddick decided to get his revenge by using blogs, online videos and social networking sites to expose her and her lover to the world.

Mr Puddick, a plumber from London, has since been accused of harassment for his actions which caused "embarrassment and shame" to the lover, Mr Haynes, and his family.

Mr Haynes, a multimillionaire director of an insurance firm, claimed that Mr Puddick's actions forced him to attend counselling sessions for the "hurt and distress" caused to him. He also claimed that he resigned from his job as a result.

A new interactive map that pinpoints speeding 'hotspots' has been released by Essex Police force. They hope the new map will reinforce the work done by Community Speed Watch groups and help to reduce the number of accidents caused by motorists breaking the speed limit.

Members of the public may view the map on Essex Police's website. The map shows the locations of where police officers have conducted random speed checks.

Information about the speed limit where the incident took place and the type of action taken against the speeding motorist can be found there, along with another map showing where Community Speed Watch (CSW) groups exist.

Six men have been arrested following a mass brawl outside Manchester Magistrates' Court on Monday (13 June), where two brothers were facing charges of GBH after biting off the ear of their cousin Paddy Doherty of Big Fat Gypsy Wedding fame.

The two brothers, Johnny and Dougie Joyce, had bumped into Mr Doherty,a former bare-knuckle fighting champion, in Manchester City the week before. A fight started resulting in Mr Doherty's ear being almost bitten off.

The two warring factions of the family attended court in support of 52-year-old Doherty and the Joyce brothers.

Following the airing of a BBC documentary, presented by Sir Terry Pratchett, which filmed a man's death at the Swiss Dignitas clinic, the debate about whether assisted suicide should be legalised in the UK has been reignited.

The documentary, Choosing to Die, featured Peter Smedley who suffered from Motor Neurone Disease. Mr Smedley, a millionaire, travelled to Switzerland where assisted suicide is not illegal, in order to end his life.

Opponents of assisted suicide claim that the TV programme is "propaganda" for the campaign to legalise assisted suicide. They fear that after watching the show it is "highly likely that copycat suicides will follow".

In an unprecedented court case for UK legal history, a juror has been accused of contempt of court for using Facebook to contact a defendant.

Joanne Fraill was serving as a juror on a 10-week trial for an important drug crime case in Manchester.

She allegedly used Facebook to contact Jamie Sewart, a defendant in the trial who had recently been acquitted, although there were still other defendants to be tried.

On discovering her 95-year-old mother had died, Olive Hazel Maddock, along with her daughter Jasmine, did not register her death or go about arranging the funeral but instead left the corpse unburied.

Ms Maddock, who worked as a TV extra on shows such as Hollyoaks and Brookside where she was known as Hazel, also committed pension fraud by claiming her late mother's state pension and a pension credit totalling £211.36.

She appeared before Liverpool crown court yesterday (13 June) where she was found guilty of unlawful prevention of burial and fraud. Her daughter Jasmine also pleaded guilty to leaving her grandmother's corpse unburied.

After proposing a £26k cap on benefits at a conference last year, the Conservatives have now backed down and will allow the cap to be relaxed in "exceptional circumstances".

Welfare reform minister Lord Freud said that while in most cases the amount that a household will be allowed to receive each year in benefits will be capped at £26,000 (the average yearly earnings of a working family), for some larger families there may be exemptions.

Other exemptions include "if you are in work, you are not affected. Secondly if you're a disabled person or there's a disabled person in the household, you're not affected. If you're a war widow or a widower, you're not affected."

Policy Exchange, a leading Conservative thinktank, has recommended placing prisoners in 40-hour-a-week employment, to pay for their board and also to save for their release.

The group's report, Inside Job, states that currently prisoners rarely work, and if they do it is for an average of 12 hours per week.

The report suggests prisoners should earn a minimum wage, which is lower than the national minimum wage, and that a portion of their earnings should be paid into a victim's fund.

Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) have announced four strike dates, which will cause chaos for London Underground commuters at the end of the month.

Train drivers will walk out on 19, 27 and 29 June and 1 July, as a protest against the dismissal of their colleague Arwyn Thomas.

Mr Thomas is currently waiting to hear the outcome of an employment tribunal for "unfair dismissal" after he claimed that London Underground (LU) dismissed him for his union activities.

In a response to the increasing numbers of immigrants illegally entering America's southern states, Alabama has passed a "tough illegal immigration law", that allows police officers to arrest people they suspect to be illegal immigrants, even if they were stopped for another reason.

The legislation, signed by Republican Governor Robert Bentley, was passed into law on Thursday 9 June and will take effect on 1 September.

The new law will also make it illegal to knowingly rent a property or give a lift in a car to an illegal immigrant.

A penny saved is a penny earned, but try spending a few thousand pennies and you could end up with a hefty fine. This was true for Jason West of Utah, USA, who faces a criminal conviction for paying a debt with coppers.

Mr West had been sent a $25 bill from his doctor's office, Basin Clinic, which he disputed. Feeling frustrated by the clinic's poor customer service, Mr West decided to go to the clinic in person to pay his bill, with 2,500 pennies.

After confirming with the receptionist that the clinic took payments in cash, he said, "Lucky for me, I happen to have it on me," and proceeded to pour the coins onto the receptionist's counter.

Following the introduction of lower rates of pay for legal aid lawyers in Northern Ireland, hundreds of solicitors have been dropping criminal cases, causing concern amongst prisoners and politicians.

A prisoner in Londonderry, charged with possessing class A drugs, fears that his case will fall apart since his own legal team withdrew.

Patrick Fullerton, 44, told Londonderry Crown Court that he could not afford to phone legal firms asking for representation. He feared he would be forced to find a solicitor who lacked criminal experience, as he said they "will mess up my case".

Having graffitied buses, trains, walls and bridges throughout the UK and in France, Daniel 'Tox' Halpin has become notorious, appearing in TV documentaries and magazines and even earning the title "king of taggers".

But after a recent hearing, in which his artistic merit was debated, the graffiti artist's efforts were considered to be vandalism and he was convicted of criminal damage.

His arrest, along with four other men, is part of a crackdown called Operation Misfit by British Transport Police.

This summer, police officers will make a concerted effort to detect and stop drink and drug drivers. The 30-day crackdown began on 1 June and will involve roadside checks taking place at any time of day or night and on all kinds of roads.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) says their message is clear: "Have fun, drink if you want to, but don't then get behind the wheel and drive. If you take that risk you will be caught."

Statistics show that in 2009, of all deaths related to motoring accidents in the UK, 17% involved a drink driver. And almost 12,000 people were injured through drink-driving.

Interpol have reported 16 million passports and 12 million national identity papers as missing or stolen and they fear that terrorists will use fraudulent passports to travel between countries undetected.

They say that despite the killing of Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and other groups linked to it are still a threat to the world's security, and airlines are most at risk.

Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said: "The airline and air industry continues to be a prime target for terrorists, but we've seen from recovered intelligence etc that they are also focusing a lot on mass transit. But airlines continue to be a special target."

When Borders went into administration in December 2009, more than 230 employees lost their jobs but were not given proper consultation rights.

The employees took the company to an employment tribunal hearing and have been awarded the maximum 90 days' pay.

The tribunal found that Borders had not correctly complied with employment legislation. When a company makes collective redundancies, there is a strict procedure they must follow.

A bus driver from Cheshire was made to sign a prenuptial agreement promising to pay for his new wife's beauty treatments, costing around £300 a month, before she would accept his proposal.

Steve, 46, had already forked out £15,000 to pay for 25-year-old Lisa Hind's hair extensions, collagen lip fillers, Botox injections, manicures and sun bed sessions.

Desperate to model herself on her idol Katie Price, Lisa is not worried about getting skin cancer from overusing sun beds, saying that she would die for her looks. According to Lisa, "fake is the new natural".

A top judge has been arrested after her dog allegedly attacked a neighbour.

Judge Beatrice Bolton appeared at court in Carlisle after her neighbour's son, Frederik Bekker, had been bitten on the leg by her German shepherd while sunbathing in their shared garden.

She was convicted under the Dangerous Dogs Act of failing to control her dog and fined £2,500. On her hearing the verdict, Judge Bolton swore and left the courtroom.

With summer just around the corner, many people are flocking to gyms in a last-ditch attempt to tone up for their beach holidays. But often customers are "exploited" by gyms that "trap" them in lengthy membership contracts.
This practice has now been declared "unfair" in a recent High Court ruling.

Ashbourne Management Services, which run membership services for more than 700 gyms throughout the UK, had many complaints brought against them for the having unfair terms in contracts, which could last between one and three years.

When customers found that they could no longer afford to keep up their gym membership, Ashbourne demanded the entire amount for the contract up front. This could mean as much as three years' worth of payments in one lump sum.

As more and more local councils gain control of Penalty Charge Notices for parking offences, the number of tickets issued every year is growing rapidly. Unsurprisingly, the number of appeals against them has also risen, but the amount of successful appeals each year has fallen.

In the year ending March 2009, 4.24 million parking tickets were issued in England and Wales, compared with just 2.5 million in 2003.

During 2008-9, the number of appeals against tickets rose by 15%. But while in the previous year the success rate was 62%, in 2008-9 it fell to 57%.

Many high-profile celebrities along with lawyers, academics and politicians have put their names to an open letter to David Cameron asking him to review the current drugs laws which criminalise those caught in possession of drugs.

The letter coincides with the launch of the campaign Drugs - It's Time for Better Laws, which has been organised by the national drug charity Release.

Among the VIPs supporting the campaign are Dame Judi Dench, Sir Richard Branson, Sting, Julie Christie, former Labour MP Bob Ainsworth and three former police chief constables.

More than 160,000 asylum seekers have been allowed to stay in the UK by the Border Agency (UKBA), prompting MPs to claim that it "amounts to an amnesty".

In an effort to clear a backlog of 450,000 cases of applicants, the agency has been closing many cases since "the applicants cannot be found and it is unknown whether they are in the UK, have left the country or are dead".

Those who can be found are being treated more leniently in the asylum process than in the past, since officials have been advised to grant leave to stay to applicants who have already been resident in the country for six to eight years. Previously the applicant had to be in the country for ten to 12 years.

A recent power cut at a Tesco store resulted in £10,000 worth of chilled food being thrown away. When Sacha Hall discovered this, she took some so that good food wouldn't "go to waste".

She now faces a possible jail sentence for handling stolen goods.

Miss Hall lived in a flat above Tesco Express in Great Baddow, Essex, from where she could see "lots of other people from the estate helping themselves" to the fresh food that had been thrown out.

Following a super-complaint from Citizens Advice, the Office of Fair Trading must make a decision on how to act towards companies that offer unsolicited loans to people who are desperate for money.

Many firms have been operating in a way that breaches fair trading laws, presenting themselves to people in need of money and offering unsecured loans.

But when the offer is taken up, the firms charge extortionate up-front fees, are expensive and difficult to get in touch with and often do not even hand over the loan.