Lincoln House Chambers are pleased to provide the second instalment of a three part Criminal Update focusing on key criminal cases from the last 18 months. This series of updates will look at some of the important criminal cases, legislative changes and other developments that will be of benefit to all practitioners with a special interest in crime.
In this, the second part, we conduct a review of recent cases concerning cases where the Defendant experienced mental ill health at the time of the offending, sentencing or afterwards, and with practice and procedure in the Crown Court. We consider the important amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines following the case of Privett and look at the new Guidelines: Sentencing Offenders with mental disorders, developmental disorders or neurological impairment which will apply to all cases sentenced on or after 1 October 2020. There are links to the new Adult and Youth Court Bench Books and a preview of two important pieces of legislation The Domestic Violence Bill and Sentencing Bill which are likely to come into force in the Autumn.
In the third part (due before the end of the year) we will consider recent sentencing cases with a particular focus on driving and POCA. We will also look at the intermediaries with an update on the latest case law and a discussion about the different position of defendants and witnesses. There will also be, following the new Guidelines, some help on how best to instruct a psychiatric witness.
The updates have been produced by Richard English & Rachel Cooper, both are Criminal Law specialists with practices which regularly include the most serious criminal cases involving mental health issues, children & sexual offences.
We hope you find this, and what’s to follow, interesting and helpful.