Kristy Richardson, 38, told staff at Jamie's Italian in Portsmouth, Hampshire, that she was allergic to gluten found in wheat, and would need to be served a gluten-free meal offered to her by the maître d'.
However, after a mix-up with the kitchen staff Ms Richardson was served regular wheat pasta, making her violently sick and sparking a legal action that has resulted in the popular chain being made to pay £17,000 in fines and costs.
]]> Ms Richardson suffers from coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition in which the body's immune system attacks the lining of the stomach when exposed to a protein (gliadin) found in wheat and wheat products, as well as in barley and rye.The condition causes many symptoms, but principle among them is pain after eating wheat products, diarrhea, which can be bloody, and vomiting.
Ms Richardson, who suffers from a particularly acute form of the disease, told a court that she had asked staff at the restaurant three times to be sure that they served her gluten-free tagliatelle.
Jamie's Italian were sued by Portsmouth Trading Standards after environmental health uncovered 'lamentable failures' in the way the restaurant handled food allergy matters.
Jamie's Italian had initially claimed that the incident with Ms Richardson was the result of a terrible mistake, but last month they pleaded guilty to a charge of selling food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser, a breach of section 14 (1) of the Food Safety Act 1990.
Ms Richardson settled her personal complaint with the chain out of court, and signed an agreement not to disclose the details of the settlement.
Counsel for the chain, Harry Vann, said that it was sorry for falling short of food safety standards.
"(Jamie's Italian) takes this extremely seriously. It is a matter of very sincere regret to the company that any customer should suffer illness as a result of any meal served by us," he said.
Source:
Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant chain is hit with a £17,000 legal bill after serving wheat pasta to a coeliac in a 'terrible mix-up' (The Daily Mail)
]]>The laws were drafted in the wake of a series of tragic scandals involving dangerous dogs. The new laws would make it a criminal offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control, allowing new prosecutions in such circumstances.
However, MPs sitting on the environment committee say that the new laws on dangerous dogs do not go far enough to deal with threatening behaviour early on and to reduce the risk of attacks rather than punishing owners after the event.
]]> Figures in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) suggest that there are 200,000 dog attacks per year. The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is currently the only act to deal with the subject and is now more than 20 years old.Critics of the existing Dangerous Dogs Act say that it fails to cover dog attacks on private property, save when a dog escapes onto a neighbour's land. If someone is attacked in another person's home, for example, the dog owner would not face prosecution under the existing law.
This was the case with the recent tragic case of Jade Anderson, 14, who was mauled to death by a pack of four dogs whilst visiting a friend in Atherton near Wigan in March this year.
The new laws could see penalties for failing to control dogs increased, from the current maximum of six months in prison, to a new maximum of up to two years.
MPs sitting on the environment committee have suggested that new laws should protect dog owners who take reasonable precautions to protect others, and should exempt dog owners when their animal attacks a trespasser when they are not at home.
A government spokesman said that the laws were urgently needed to protect the public from dangerous dogs.
"We are changing the law so that owners can be prosecuted for dog attacks on private property and our anti-social behaviour reforms will give the police and local agencies more effective powers to deal with owners who fail to take responsibility for their dogs," they said.
Source:
New dangerous dogs laws do not go far enough, say MPs (BBC News)
]]>Sanika Ahmed was born in Portsmouth in July 2012 to parents of Bangladeshi origin. Her father, Muhammad Ahmed had worked in the UK legally in 2008 and 2009 but had overstayed in the UK after his work permit had expired.
Last year his wife Syeda gave birth to baby Sanika but there was a complication in labour and Sanika suffered an injury to her shoulder, damaging the nerves supplying her arm.
]]> Sanika suffered an injury called an Erb's palsy. Erb's palsy is a form of nerve damage that causes a characteristic 'waiter's tip' appearance with a straight, outstretched arm and a flexed wrist such that the hand resembles a waiter requesting a tip.The condition requires corrective surgery, but due to the family's illegal immigration status the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Middlesex initially refused to perform the operation.
Under UK law illegal immigrants are entitled to receive free emergency care and can currently register for free primary care with any GP practice; however, secondary hospital care not immediately necessary to save life can be withheld pending payment.
The Ahmeds decided to appeal the hospital's decision and instructed solicitors to seek out a judicial review. However, before the judicial review could take place the hospital changed its mind and completed the operation.
"Before Sanika's operation took place I was very sad and very tense and apprehensive but when I got the appointment I started to hope something good was going to come out of this and feel it has," Mrs Ahmed told the BBC.
Source:
]]>Under the current laws concerning fishing quotas, fish that swim near to the surface and are accidentally caught by fishermen seeking other catches must be put back into the sea dead, rather than landed and sold.
The practice is designed to avoid overfishing, but instead results in tonnes of perfectly good fish being thrown back into the sea every year.
]]> The cause of fish dumping was taken up by celebrity cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who made it the subject of his 'Fish Fight' TV programme and campaigned to change EU law on fish dumping.The UK fisheries minister, Richard Benyon, was involved in marathon talks on the matter with other EU politicians and yesterday claimed some sort of victory on the subject of dumped fish.
"This was a difficult negotiation and, although it is not as ambitious as I would have liked, we have stuck to our key principles," he told the BBC.
It is thought that if the agreed laws are finalised, a ban on dumping of so-called pelagic fish, those that swim near to the surface like mackerel and herring, could be introduced by the beginning of 2015.
Environmental groups were more cautious over the announcement, saying that the compromises that were made had affected the ambition of the parties to make bold new laws and restore fish stocks.
The new rules will see EU laws applied in commercial fishing areas, but decisions on rules for local areas will be made by those affected and not by the entire EU membership.
The new laws will see legally binding limitations on fishing put in place, with the levels determined by scientific advice.
The UK has been negotiating with the EU over new fishing laws for more than three years.
Source:
UK claims breakthrough in fish dumping talks (BBC News)
]]>The couple, Kira Izzard and Laura Cull who live in the capital, Douglas, were refused the opportunity to rent a house on the island by a landlord who felt uncomfortable with their sexual orientation.
The shocked couple were then left further dismayed after learning that the Isle has no laws preventing this kind of archaic sexual orientation discrimination.
]]> Ms Izzard and Ms Cull have launched a petition campaigning for the introduction of the UK's Equality Act 2010 into Isle of Man law, to prevent future discrimination on the Isle on the basis of sexuality.The petition has caught the attention of the Isle's first minister, Allan Bell.
"I am extremely disappointed that this type of ugly, outdated prejudice survives after all the work that has been done over the past 20 years or so to make the island a more tolerant place," said Mr Bell.
He announced that an Equality Bill, based on the UK's Equality Act, was in the process of drafting and that preparations would be accelerated to expedite the passage of the Bill into law.
The landlord at the centre of the row is Methodist Keith Price.
"We are not homophobic but we do have a stance on the sexuality," he said, somewhat confusingly.
"We believe that God has a plan for our lives within the context of marriage, the scripture is quite clear in its teaching on this," he added.
Once the Equality Bill has been completed discrimination on the grounds of gender, sexuality or religious beliefs will be outlawed, giving couples like Ms Cull and Ms Izzard legal redress should this happen again in future.
Source:
Isle of Man lesbian couple refused rental agreement (BBC News)
]]>The experts have concluded that civil court orders made to protect children from sex offenders after they are released from prison are not working.
The panel, commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers, included representatives from the police, lawyers and staff from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).
]]> The report concluded that there were serious flaws in the civil court orders and cited the bans on overseas travel as an area where more should be done.The report criticised the standard of proof required to achieve a court order, which it says has resulted in a disproportionately low number of court orders compared to the number of sexual offenders released from prison.
One of the report's authors, Christine Beddoe, told BBC's Radio 4 programme that the statistics showed that the system was not working.
"Between 2008 and July 2012, 303 British sex offenders had been arrested abroad which is a phenomenal amount and clearly shows something is not working," she said.
The authors of the report believe that a lack of information is preventing police and lawyers going ahead to apply for a court order, believing in advance that they have no chance of winning the case.
Meanwhile CEOP announced that they have seen a sharp increase in the number of reported cases of sexual abuse and an 85% increase in the number of children they have moved to protect.
"We recognise that the world is constantly changing and offenders will continue to seek new ways to abuse children, which is why our work with partners around the globe is constantly evolving to ensure we're always one step ahead of abusers," a spokesman said.
Source:
]]>Two men with severe disabilities will this week ask the Court of Appeal for a right to die, in the latest legal battles on the subject of assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Paul Lamb, a 58-year-old from Leeds, and another man known only as 'Martin', are both seeking legal routes to allow them to die with the help of a doctor.
]]> Mr Lamb is continuing the case brought last year by locked-in syndrome sufferer Tony Nicklinson. His lawyers will argue that a doctor who helps someone to die by assisting their suicide should be given the legal defence of necessity to any subsequent murder charge.Mr Lamb was injured in a serious car accident in 1990 and has spent the last 23 years with no function in any of his limbs, requiring round-the-clock care and constant pain relief.
Martin's case is slightly different. He is suffering from 'locked-in syndrome', meaning he has no voluntary control of any muscles in his body apart from his eyes. Awake and alert, Martin is unable to verbally communicate and must have everything done for him by carers.
In response to a string of similar cases last year, the Director of Public Prosecutions Kier Starmer released new guidance for prosecutors on cases of assisted suicide. The guidance states that prosecutions would be unlikely when family members help someone to die out of compassion.
In Martin's case his wife is unwilling to assist him in dying, meaning this new option is unavailable to him. He would like this guidance extended to allow doctors to act in the same way.
Lord Falconer's new law looks unlikely to help either man with long-term disabilities, not least as it faces a tough journey through Parliament. His law would allow those in the last six months of a terminal illness to request help to end their lives.
Critics argue that the law would not pass a public safety test and that introducing such a law threatens the elderly and disabled.
"Lord Falconer is using the emotions generated by hard court cases, but his agenda is very dangerous for disabled and elderly people," said Dr Peter Saunders.
Sources:
Lord Falconer to press on assisted dying law (BBC News)
Right-to-die cases heard at Court of Appeal (BBC News)
]]>It is a little-known fact that the UK is one of only two European nations that legally allow the use of Satellite Navigation devices in order to detect the location of fixed-speed camera traps.
As a result, many UK motorists frequently set up their SatNav devices to detect speed cameras, allowing them to adjust their speed to avoid detection.
]]> However, on the continent the practice is illegal and this is something that many UK drivers are unaware of when they take their car and their SatNav abroad on holiday.A survey by the Post Office has revealed that one in five UK motorists driving abroad is stopped by the police, but that 33% are unclear on the motoring laws that apply in foreign countries.
Andrew Brown, of Post Office Travel Money, said that knowledge of motoring law was vital when driving abroad.
"Fines often have to be paid on the spot, sometimes in cash. It's really important to gen up on the current laws before setting out," he told The Daily Mirror.
SatNav devices generally warn motorists by having the location of cameras pre-loaded into their 'Points of Interest' dataset. Other devices are available which use detectors to locate radar or laser signals emitted by speed cameras.
Seven European countries have a legal ban on 'Point of Interest' systems, including Ireland and Germany. France brought in a law banning POI systems last January. In thirteen countries POI is permitted, but detectors are illegal, these include Austria and Italy.
The penalties for flouting the law vary from country to country. German police can fine a motorist €75 if their POI system is not disabled, whilst in other countries like Switzerland the police are empowered to confiscate devices that break the law.
The AA advises motorists to read up on local motoring laws ahead of any trip, and to disable the POI function on your SatNav before leaving the UK. Speed detector systems are broadly illegal everywhere, so should be left at home.
Source:
Satnav users could be fined abroad for detecting speed cameras (The Mirror)
]]>As well as seeking £200,000 in damages, Mr Fallon would like the law changed so that liability is presumed against car users, reports The London Evening Standard.
Mr Fallon, 48, hit a car door that was suddenly opened into his path in 2010 whilst cycling through Dalston on his way to work. Although he wore a helmet he suffered a brain haemorrhage as a result of the accident.
]]> Three years on, Mr Fallon says he still suffers from headaches as a result of his injuries and is now more prone to changes in mood and low energy. The injuries he sustained have left him at greater risk of epileptic fits in future.In a landmark case Mr Fallon is suing the driver of the vehicle who's door he hit, and the passenger who opened the door into his path without looking. He hopes to win £200,000 in compensation from the legal action.
The number of incidents of dooring - opening a car door into the path of an oncoming cyclist - has risen 25% nationally since 2011, as more and more people ditch cars and public transport to cycle to work. Many of the injuries are minor as cyclists are able to swerve to reduce the impact, but one in six dooring incidents results in serious injury.
Olympic cycling death
The tragic death of London cyclist Sam Harding last August brought the issue of dooring into the spotlight. Mr Harding was cycling in a bus lane when a car door was opened in front of him. He was unable to avoid the impact and was flung from his bike into the path of an oncoming bus, dying at the scene.
The driver in that case, Kenan Aydogdu, was cleared by a jury of manslaughter last December, after he admitted opening the door without looking, prompting Mr Harding's father to campaign for a change in the law.
Presumed liability
In Mr Fallon's case he would like a change in the law such that the least vulnerable road user has 'presumed liability' for any accident with a more vulnerable road user. In this case the car owner would be presumed liable after the collision with the cyclist.
The onus would then be on the driver to show that they had acted properly and safely and that the accident was caused by the cyclist's own behaviour.
The UK is one of only a few European countries that does not have a strict liability law to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. Many including Holland, Denmark and France operate such a policy and have done for many years.
"There are only a handful of countries in Europe which do not have a policy of strict negligence and the UK is one of them," Mr Fallon told The Evening Standard.
"It is a civil law, which would state that the motorist has to prove that he did not cause the crash," he added.
Critics argue that a new law is unnecessary, and that a campaign of driver awareness of cyclists and more cautious cycling around parked cars could reduce the number of 'dooring' incidents in future.
Source:
Cyclist injured by car door sues driver for £200,000 (The Evening Standard)
]]>Barbara Hewson, a barrister with Hardwicke Chambers, described the current police investigation into sex crimes as 'old men abuse persecutions', to the anger of child protection groups including the NSPCC.
Her comments came in the light of the recent arrests of artist and broadcaster Rolf Harris, retired BBC presenter Stuart Hall, Coronation Street actor Bill Roache and several other high-profile individuals.
]]> She described Operation Yewtree, the investigation launched by Scotland Yard following the Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal, as 'post-Savile witch hunting' of 'ageing celebs', saying that it had echoes of 'Soviet Union' trials.Her article, published in online magazine 'Spike', was not pre-vetted by her chambers, who moved quickly to distance themselves from the remarks.
Hewson described the police and judicial action as a 'manipulation of the British criminal justice system' to 'produce scapegoats on demand'. Adding that it amounted to a 'grotesque spectacle' that has nothing to do with justice or public interest.
Critics argued that the victims of these sex crimes felt they were finally receiving justice after years of suffering in silence and that the cultural shift that has taken place regarding sexual offences was encouraging more and more people to disclose details of abuse that they may have otherwise taken to their graves.
Writing for the Huffington Post, the NSPCC's Head of Strategy & Development for Sexual Abuse, Jon Brown, said that Hewson's views 'beggar belief'.
"I agree, [the crimes recently publicised] are less serious offences when compared to rape but they are still sexual offences and the impact on the victims can be huge," he wrote.
Change in the law
In her piece Hewson stated that one way of preventing the kind of 'witch hunt' she describes would be to place a statutory limitation on bringing allegations for criminal cases, effectively preventing many of the current prosecutions for events that took place decades ago.
She also advocates lowering the age of sexual consent from the current legal age of 16 down to 13, to avoid the current situation in which a person under 16 cannot legally consent to sex.
Responding to that specific suggestion, the NSPCC's Jon Brown said: "Let's get one myth out of the way. The age of consent is not there to criminalise young people who have sex with each other - it exists to protect them from sexual predators like Savile."
He went on to describe the argument that minor sexual crimes should not be prosecuted as like saying 'it is OK to go shoplifting because you could have committed armed robbery, but didn't'.
In the wake of her article Hewson was subjected to vile social media abuse, posting on Twitter that one person wanted her to be raped, whilst another wanted her 'hunted into obscurity'.
Lawyers representing some of the victims of Jimmy Savile said that the barrister's comments did 'nothing to help society come to terms with criminal behaviour identified by historic sexual abuse survivors'.
Source:
Allow legal sex at 13 to stop 'old men abuse persecutions', says barrister (The Telegraph)
]]>It was the Queen's 59th speech to mark the State Opening of Parliament, used to introduce the legislative objectives set out by the government of the day for the next parliamentary session.
This year's speech contained few surprises, but perhaps principle among them was the omission of a law legalising gay marriage, for the second parliament in a row.
]]> The Commons voted on the matter earlier in 2013 and it was widely thought that an Act of Parliament would be introduced this year to make the intention of Parliament law.Critics cited the recent local electoral gains by the right-wing UKIP party as the main reason for the coalition ducking the chance to introduce what undoubtedly remains a controversial topic.
However, the Government claimed that the omission was due to the fact that the bill voted on by the Commons was a 'carry over' measure introduced halfway through the last parliamentary session, prompting one Labour MP to describe the gay marriage bill as 'the bill that dare not speak its name'.
A new law on immigration looks set to ensure that the UK attracts people who will contribute to the economy, whilst deterring those who will not. The proposals include new plans to ban illegal immigrants from being able to drive, and imposing an obligation on landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants.
Cigarettes and alcohol
Gay marriage was not the only important omission from the next legislative agenda.
Much has been made in recent months of government plans to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol; however, having previously indicated that the policy was favoured, the Government has now decided that it will have to wait another year.
Also left out of the Queen's Speech was a new law on plain cigarette packaging. This was introduced in Australia last year and it was thought the Government was keen to follow suit to show a continuing tough stance against one of the UK's biggest killers.
EU referendum
After UKIP's strong performance at the ballot box last week and David Cameron's tough rhetoric on an 'in-out' referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, many had expected a bill to make this pledge law; however, such a bill was not forthcoming.
Commentators believe that a Tory backbencher is likely to introduce such a bill in the coming weeks to guarantee a referendum and that senior Tories are likely to support its passage through Parliament.
Other new laws
Other important new laws to look out for in 2013 include:
· Exempting employers from the first £2,000 of National Insurance contributions
· A Bill of Rights for consumers
· A social care bill to cap the cost of care for pensioners at £72,000
· A new single-tier pension of £144 a week to be introduced by 2016
· Ofsted-style rating for hospitals and care homes
· New laws to increase supervision of offenders after release from jail
· A bill to move an increase in the retirement age to 67 forward to 2026
Source:
]]>Harry Shindler moved to Italy 30 years ago but believed that he should retain the right to vote in UK elections, despite UK rules that state that voting rights are lost once a UK citizen has lived abroad for 15 years.
Mr Shindler fought at Anzio during the Second World War and married an Italian woman afterwards. He retired and moved to Italy in 1982 to live with his family.
]]> He took his case challenging the UK rules all the way to the European Court of Human Rights but the Strasbourg Court ruled that the UK's rules were proportionate to a legitimate aim to limit the franchise to citizens who are closely connected and would be directly affected by the laws of the United Kingdom.Mr Shindler said he was not disappointed with the decision and vowed to continue his fight to the ECHR Grand Chamber.
"We believed we would win. We always knew the case was unanswerable because we live in new times of technology and travel. We will continue to fight on."
His lawyer, Charlotte Oliver, said that he would probably continue the fight to vote for the rest of his life.
Mr Shindler's cause is supported by other expat groups. Penelope Hearns of Cyprus Expat believes that expats should be allowed to vote by virtue of tax and National Insurance paid in the past.
"Many expats still contribute to the UK economy, by purchasing British goods and services for consumption in their new home abroad. Many expats visit the UK to visit family, friends and for other matters," she told The Independent.
Source:
93-year-old former serviceman loses ruling on expats voting in UK elections (The Independent)
]]>The Care and Support Minister, Norman Lamb, has announced that those who juggle care commitments with work will be given the legal right to claim help, including respite holidays and training.
Today's Queen's Speech will unveil the proposals, which will oblige councils to assess the support needs of all carers and to provide services to ensure that those care needs are met. Financial assistance for carers will be means tested, but many advice measures will be available to all.
]]> The policy comes in the light of statistics that show that more than 1m people, mostly women, spend more than 50 hours each week caring for a family member. Common reasons for requiring care include an inability to complete activities of daily living, such as washing, dressing, cooking and cleaning.In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Norman Lamb MP said that carers often felt isolated and adrift of state support. At present when carers do seek help they are often denied it, due to the current lack of a legal right to help.
Mr Lamb believes that the new law will provide a backbone of assistance for carers.
"There will be proper support. They will be linked into the system. If their needs are of a sufficient level they will be entitled for the first time to get support from the local authority," he said.
The provision of care support will be founded in law, but the exact nature of the support offered is likely to vary on a council-by-council basis. It is thought support packages could include training in care techniques, leisure classes and transport assistance.
The new law will also include a £72,000 cap on the cost of care, putting an end to the practice of forcing pensioners to sell their home to cover the unlimited cost of care.
"This is the most important piece of care legislation for decades and reforms a dysfunctional system," Mr Lamb concluded.
Source:
Carers to receive legal rights under new laws (The Telegraph)
]]>The Government has announced plans to provide additional online legal protection for consumers, after ministers acknowledged that too many people were unaware of their rights when shopping online.
The coalition will use next week's Queen's speech, which formally marks the beginning of the next parliamentary session, to announce a new Bill of Rights for consumers.
]]> Insiders say the new laws will reward honest traders, whilst clamping down on rogue websites who offer faulty, substandard or even damaged products and then make it difficult for purchasers to claim refunds or exchange items.The Bill of Rights is unlikely to contain any big surprises and will instead combine more than 60 individual pieces of legislation into a new single Act.
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has been consulting on the changes to consumer law for some time. The aim of the new Consumer Bill of Rights is to clarify the standards that a consumer can expect when buying a product or service, to set out what can be done when products or services don't meet those standards and to set out what information must be provided before a purchase can be made.
Consultations were carried out to look at increasing the powers available to those who enforce consumer law, such as local Trading Standards bodies, and to seek out ways to boost consumer confidence. The Law Commission also consulted on how to revise unfair contract terms laws.
Business Minister Jo Swinson said recently of the new laws: "Stronger consumer protection and clearer consumer rights will help create a fairer and stronger marketplace. We are hoping to bring in a number of changes to improve consumer confidence and make sure the law is fit for the 21st century."
Sources:
Online shoppers to get protection for faulty goods and services as laws finally catch up following advances in technology (The Daily Mail)
Providing better information and protection for consumers (GOV.UK)
]]>The survey showed that 1,466 laws were introduced by the Coalition Government last year, a rise of 111 from the 2011 total of 1,355.
The news prompted commentators to conclude that the Government's election pledge to 'cut red tape' was faltering, although others have pointed to the fact that the Government had a particularly busy year, pushing many reforms through Parliament.
]]> The author of the Sweet & Maxwell report, Daniel Greenberg, said that many of the reforms were aimed at making life simpler for businesses; however, he added that the volume of new laws meant there was a lot to get through.
"There is still a huge amount of change for them to digest at a time when they are battling a tough economic climate," he told the FT.
A spokesman for the Department of Business was quick to point out that the number of laws on the statute book was not the best indication of the success or failure of legislative reform.
"As the report rightly notes, many of the reforms are lightening the load for business. We have cut the cost of regulation to business by nearly £1bn," they said.
The passing of a new law is always necessary to remove a previous set of rules from the statute book, making counting the number of laws passed a poor gauge of the total regulatory burden.
Source:
Rise in number of new UK laws prompts red-tape claims (The Financial Times - free signup)
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