‘Young men don’t mature psychologically until their mid-20s. Condemning so many to the toxic environment of our jails is a recipe for reoffending and suicide.’
The Guardian, 1st December 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has severely criticised the Legal Aid Agency (LAA)’s actions in a case concerning a ward of court to whom a local authority had agreed to pay damages for the unauthorised release of information.’
Local Government Lawyer, 17th November 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A teenager has won a £3m legal battle against her ex-boyfriend’s family after she fell off a “badly trained” horse and broke her back.’
The Independent, 12th November 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Thousands of people, politicians, celebrities and refugee charities have backed a campaign to stop a teenager who fled to Britain from Afghanistan as a 10-year-old after his father was murdered from being forcibly removed to the country of his birth.’
The Guardian, 10th November 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Pressure is mounting for a public inquiry into the adoption of hundreds of thousands of babies born to unmarried women over a 30-year period amid claims from some mothers who say they were coerced into handing over their children. A letter will be sent to the home secretary, Amber Rudd, next week from solicitors at two eminent law firms calling on her to convene a public inquiry into historical adoption practices in the UK. The solicitors say an inquiry would uncover the truth about the practices – stretching over three decades after the end of the second world war – and hold agencies to account.’
The Guardian, 4th November 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
McPhee v The Queen [2016] UKPC 29
‘The defendant, a 17-year-old from Nassau, was arrested on a neighbouring island of The Bahamas on suspicion of murder following an armed robbery. He gave his mother’s phone number in Nassau to the police but no contact with her was established and no lawyer was called. After more than 31 hours in custody, during which time the custody log showed he had been taken from his cell several times but without any record made of his being questioned, a church minister in his mid-seventies was asked to come to the police station to witness the defendant make a statement. The minister did not speak to the defendant alone nor offer him any advice, but observed that the defendant was hungry and gave the police money to buy him a meal, after which the defendant made a written statement under caution confessing to the murder. Apart from the confession the only evidence against the defendant was that of another defendant who became a prosecution witness during the trial. At trial, the defendant claimed that his statement had been made following torture and so was not admissible. The judge rejected the claim of torture but did not consider whether the taking of the defendant from his cells had been for the purpose of informal interrogation, or whether the minister could properly be said to have been acting as an “appropriate adult” for the witnessing of a juvenile’s confession, and allowed the confession to go before the jury. The defendant was convicted of murder. The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The defendant appealed to the Privy Council on the grounds, inter alia, that the confession should have been excluded under section 20 of the Bahamas Evidence Act as being unreliable, by reason of the defendant having been subjected to unrecorded questioning in the absence of a lawyer or appropriate adult and in any event should have been excluded as unfair under section 178 of the Bahamas Evidence Act.’
WLR Daily, 24th October 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Too many magistrates in England and Wales are “old and white”, one of the youngest justices in the country says.’
BBC News, 19th October 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Ministry of Defence has said it is “extremely sorry” for the death of an Iraqi teenager who drowned after being “forced” into a Basra canal by four British soldiers.’
The Independent, 16th September 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Every day, the Youth Justice Legal Centre, set up by the youth justice charity Just for Kids Law, sees the criminal justice system failing young people. Now a growing body of opinion agrees it is time for reform, says Laura Cooper.’
Legal Voice, 8th August 2016
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
‘Test case against Met police and Islington council brought on behalf of 14-year-old boy by Just for Kids Law, which says cells are not fit places for children.’
The Guardian, 21st July 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The mayor of Liverpool has sought to reassure the public that an investigation into the death of a black teenager who had been detained by police will be fully transparent, following a weekend of protests in Liverpool and London.’
The Guardian, 18th July 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A teenager has died in the custody of police after being detained by security staff at a shopping centre.’
BBC News, 14th July 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A teenager who took photographs in court as his friend was being jailed for murder and then glorified the killer on social media has been given a 15-month sentence.’
The Guardian, 13th July 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A teenager who forced himself on a girl while she was sleeping refused to let his friend do the same because it was “technically rape”.’
The Independent, 22nd June 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Social care agencies missed opportunities to help a 17-year-old girl who took her own life months after being removed from a child protection plan, a coroner has ruled. Katy Skerrett, the senior coroner for Gloucestershire, said there had been a lack of communication between mental health and social care professionals in the treatment provided to Anielka Jennings.’
The Guardian, 15th June 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘At least 10,000 children who go missing could be at “terrible risk” because a “dangerous” police recording system means they fall off the radar, an all-party group of MPs has said. Ann Coffey, the Labour chair of the all-party inquiry, said that a new “absent” category introduced in the police recording system was dangerous and should be scrapped.’
The Guardian, 26th May 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘NHS England has been ordered by the High Court to treat a teenager with a severe neurological condition.’
Daily Telegraph, 5th May 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A coroner is writing to the health secretary over the case of a troubled 17-year-old who took his own life after discharging himself from hospital at the weekend without being seen by specialists in mental health in children and young people.’
The Guardian, 28th April 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A teenager who did not want to live with her family because “they were not strict enough Muslims” after being returned from the Syrian border, should have been provided with accommodation and support by the local authority, the High Court has said.’
Daily Telegraph, 16th March 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘An interim report of emerging findings from the review of the youth justice system.’
Ministry of Justice, 9th February 2016
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
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