Former government adviser says sentence discounts could make convictions more difficult and stop victims coming forward A high-ranking former police officer who advised the government on rape for 10 years has said proposals to halve sentences for attackers who plead guilty will make it harder to convict rapists and could deter victims from coming forward. Dave Gee – who was recently commended by the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), Sir Hugh Orde, as the UK’s leading authority on rape investigation – said he felt “despair” when he heard Kenneth Clarke appear to suggest some rape cases were more serious than others , and accused the justice secretary of ignorance of the subject and the law. The former head of Derbyshire CID told the Guardian that Clarke’s plan to increase the discounted tariff for rape when assailants admitted guilt to 50%, alongside crimes like robbery and burglary, downplayed the severity of the offence, in turn inviting officers to investigate it less thoroughly. He also said Clarke had got the law wrong when he claimed that a case of an 18-year-old having sex with a 15-year-old girl would be treated as rape even if she were willing. In fact in those circumstances the crime would be unlawful sexual intercourse; statutory rape is when the girl is 13 or under. In an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live on Wednesday, Clarke rejected a suggestion that “rape is rape” and talked about “serious rape with violence and an unwilling woman”. Gee, who travelled the country advising police forces on how to increase conviction rates in his work for the Home Office and Acpo, said: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. When I listened to it again to check my hearing of it, it was even worse then I’d thought. “It showed an ignorance of the facts and about rape in general. He drew an obvious distinction between ‘serious’ rape and other categories. “It legitimises the myth that ‘proper’ rape must involve violence and injury. It sends a message to jurors who have an attitude that there are degrees of rape that they are right and may make them less likely to convict.” Gee said it was “outrageous” for Clarke to get his facts wrong on statutory rape. “He’s responsible for justice and he doesn’t know the law.” On the sentencing proposals, he said: “Why is rape being included with what are currently deemed to be lesser offences? It will weaken the investigative mindset of officers at the outset. “At a time when we’re trying to get more people to report rape, this announcement will have done nothing to help and may even have reversed those efforts. What are they thinking of?” He also criticised Clarke for suggesting victims wanted to be spared the trauma of going to court, saying that for many it was an important part of the cathartic process. Gee, a retired detective chief superintendent, for five years managed Acpo’s rape support programme, which worked with forces around the country to improve their handling of rape cases and drive up conviction rates. He also worked with officials in the Home Office dealing with policy on sexual violence and co-wrote Acpo’s national guidance on rape. He left his role in March this year voluntarily and has not been replaced, but still does unpaid work with voluntary organisations and talks to police forces when asked. Kenneth Clarke Rape UK criminal justice Rachel Williams guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• FA board agrees to reject both Blatter and Bin Hammam • Decision taken due to ‘a well-reported range of issues’ The Football Association’s board has decided to abstain in the vote for the presidency of Fifa, citing “a well-reported range of issues”. The decision to support neither Sepp Blatter nor his Qatari challenger Mohamed bin Hammam in the vote on 1 June had been expected following the recent allegations of bribery surrounding Qatar’s successful bid for the 2022 World Cup. Bin Hammam, central to the Qatar bid, denies any wrongdoing. The FA chairman David Bernstein said: “There are a well-reported range of issues both recent and current which, in the view of the FA board, make it difficult to support either candidate. “The FA values its relationships with its international football partners extremely highly. We are determined to play an active and influential role through our representation within both Uefa and Fifa. “We will continue to work hard to bring about any changes we think would benefit all of international football.” Bernstein had previously admitted that “it wouldn’t go down very well” with the public if the FA board decided to vote for the 75-year-old Blatter. He said: “We will look at the recent events and take that on board. There are two candidates and three possible decisions, the other being that we will abstain.” One of the board members from the amateur game is Roger Burden, who withdrew his application to become FA chairman after the World Cup vote in December, saying he would have to work with Fifa and “I am not prepared to deal with people whom I cannot trust”. The Premier League members may have argued in favour of Bin Hammam – they have developed close links with the head of the Asian confederation – but evidently did not win a majority. The FA Fifa Sepp Blatter Mohamed bin Hammam David Bernstein guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• FA board agrees to reject both Blatter and Bin Hammam • Decision taken due to ‘a well-reported range of issues’ The Football Association’s board has decided to abstain in the vote for the presidency of Fifa, citing “a well-reported range of issues”. The decision to support neither Sepp Blatter nor his Qatari challenger Mohamed bin Hammam in the vote on 1 June had been expected following the recent allegations of bribery surrounding Qatar’s successful bid for the 2022 World Cup. Bin Hammam, central to the Qatar bid, denies any wrongdoing. The FA chairman David Bernstein said: “There are a well-reported range of issues both recent and current which, in the view of the FA board, make it difficult to support either candidate. “The FA values its relationships with its international football partners extremely highly. We are determined to play an active and influential role through our representation within both Uefa and Fifa. “We will continue to work hard to bring about any changes we think would benefit all of international football.” Bernstein had previously admitted that “it wouldn’t go down very well” with the public if the FA board decided to vote for the 75-year-old Blatter. He said: “We will look at the recent events and take that on board. There are two candidates and three possible decisions, the other being that we will abstain.” One of the board members from the amateur game is Roger Burden, who withdrew his application to become FA chairman after the World Cup vote in December, saying he would have to work with Fifa and “I am not prepared to deal with people whom I cannot trust”. The Premier League members may have argued in favour of Bin Hammam – they have developed close links with the head of the Asian confederation – but evidently did not win a majority. The FA Fifa Sepp Blatter Mohamed bin Hammam David Bernstein guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Move comes after peer uses parliamentary privilege to discuss former RBS chief’s injunction in Lords The high court has partially lifted a gagging order brought by Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, just hours after details of his alleged extra-marital affair were made public in the House of Lords. Mr Justice Tugendhat varied the injunction to allow publication of Goodwin’s name, but not details of the alleged relationship and the name of the woman said to be involved. Goodwin obtained the wide-ranging injunction against the Sun newspaper in March. News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that publishes the Sun, went to the high court on Thursday afternoon seeking to get the injunction lifted. However, by that point Goodwin had already informed the high court “that he did not wish to persuade the court to continue the anonymity,” according to his lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson QC. Tugendhat then amended the wide-ranging injunction to allow Goodwin to be named, but to prevent reporting of the detail of his alleged “sexual relationship” with a colleague. Tugendhat said: “The main point is that this is an injunction relating to a sexual relationship. The existing order of Mrs Justice Sharp prohibits the naming of the other person to the relationship and prohibits the publication of any details. That remains in force.” The injunction – which even prevented Goodwin from being identified as a banker – was raised by Lord Stoneham, a Liberal Democrat peer, earlier on Thursday during a debate in the upper house. Stoneham’s comments are protected by parliamentary privilege. Stoneham, speaking on behalf of fellow Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott, said during the debate: “Would [the speaker] accept that every taxpayer has a direct public interest in the events leading up to the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland? “So how can it be right for a injunction to hide the alleged relationship between Sir Fred Goodwin and a senior colleague? If true it would be a serious breach of corporate governance and not even the Financial Services Authority would know about it.” Following the Lords claims on Thursday morning, Lord McNally, the minister of state for justice and deputy leader of the Lords, revealed that the Ministry of Justice does not know how many superinjunctions presently exist. The ability of MPs and peers to bypass gagging orders issued against the media is likely to feature in a report on superinjunctions by the master of the rolls, Lord Neuberger, on Friday. However, the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, on Thursday ruled out new legislation to deal specifically with the issue of balancing privacy and freedom of speech, saying that a privacy law was “not the way forward”. He added: “We’re not minded to have a new privacy law but we’re not ruling out the need for legislative changes.” •
Continue reading …
Move comes after peer uses parliamentary privilege to discuss former RBS chief’s injunction in Lords The high court has partially lifted a gagging order brought by Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, just hours after details of his alleged extra-marital affair were made public in the House of Lords. Mr Justice Tugendhat varied the injunction to allow publication of Goodwin’s name, but not details of the alleged relationship and the name of the woman said to be involved. Goodwin obtained the wide-ranging injunction against the Sun newspaper in March. News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that publishes the Sun, went to the high court on Thursday afternoon seeking to get the injunction lifted. However, by that point Goodwin had already informed the high court “that he did not wish to persuade the court to continue the anonymity,” according to his lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson QC. Tugendhat then amended the wide-ranging injunction to allow Goodwin to be named, but to prevent reporting of the detail of his alleged “sexual relationship” with a colleague. Tugendhat said: “The main point is that this is an injunction relating to a sexual relationship. The existing order of Mrs Justice Sharp prohibits the naming of the other person to the relationship and prohibits the publication of any details. That remains in force.” The injunction – which even prevented Goodwin from being identified as a banker – was raised by Lord Stoneham, a Liberal Democrat peer, earlier on Thursday during a debate in the upper house. Stoneham’s comments are protected by parliamentary privilege. Stoneham, speaking on behalf of fellow Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott, said during the debate: “Would [the speaker] accept that every taxpayer has a direct public interest in the events leading up to the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland? “So how can it be right for a injunction to hide the alleged relationship between Sir Fred Goodwin and a senior colleague? If true it would be a serious breach of corporate governance and not even the Financial Services Authority would know about it.” Following the Lords claims on Thursday morning, Lord McNally, the minister of state for justice and deputy leader of the Lords, revealed that the Ministry of Justice does not know how many superinjunctions presently exist. The ability of MPs and peers to bypass gagging orders issued against the media is likely to feature in a report on superinjunctions by the master of the rolls, Lord Neuberger, on Friday. However, the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, on Thursday ruled out new legislation to deal specifically with the issue of balancing privacy and freedom of speech, saying that a privacy law was “not the way forward”. He added: “We’re not minded to have a new privacy law but we’re not ruling out the need for legislative changes.” •
Continue reading …The Secret Service is apologizing for an anti-Fox News Twitter comment that made it onto the Service’s new Twitter feed barely a week after it was set up, reports CNN . “Had to monitor Fox for a story. Can’t. Deal. With. The. Blathering,” wrote the comment, which was quickly removed.
Continue reading …An Afghan detainee at the Guantanamo Bay prison has died in an an apparent suicide, the sixth at the detention center since 2002. The prisoner, known only by the name Inayatullah, was not conscious or breathing when guards checked on him Wednesday morning, and they immediately tried to resuscitate him,…
Continue reading …
Two people treated for minor injuries and residents evacuated as black smoke drifts over city Fifty firefighters are tackling a spectacular fire in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne that has sent clouds of black smoke billowing over the famous Byker Wall flats. Residents have been warned to stay inside and shut all doors and windows as thick smoke poured from tyres and oil-soaked car wrecks at a scrapyard in nearby Albion Row. A small number of local people were evacuated from their homes in Northumberland Row but are expected to be allowed back within hours. Six staff working at the yard left after raising the alarm, when smouldering smoke in a six-month-old pile of scrap suddenly burst into flames. The column of smoke could be seen from miles and led to anxious calls to police from people across Northumbria and county Durham. Hundreds of people gathered to watch as crews fought to stop the fire spreading to a neighbouring timber yard. The scrapyard’s managers said there was a 2,000-litre fuel store on the site, and emergency services are trying to check whether the scrap contained potentially dangerous chemicals. Two people have been treated by paramedics for minor injuries. No other buildings have been affected. Northumbria police closed local roads, including Leighton Street and Byker Bank, which runs by the 1960s Byker Wall above the Tyne. A further two roads, Ford and Lime Streets, were later closed and Albion Row was sealed off. The alarm was raised at 12.25pm. It has been too dangerous for forensic teams to start checking for possible causes of the blaze. The Byker Wall was designed as a “village in the sky” by the architect Ralph Erskine. Its 620 flats and maisonettes were built in the 1970s and have been the setting for many TV series and films. Newcastle Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Two people treated for minor injuries and residents evacuated as black smoke drifts over city Fifty firefighters are tackling a spectacular fire in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne that has sent clouds of black smoke billowing over the famous Byker Wall flats. Residents have been warned to stay inside and shut all doors and windows as thick smoke poured from tyres and oil-soaked car wrecks at a scrapyard in nearby Albion Row. A small number of local people were evacuated from their homes in Northumberland Row but are expected to be allowed back within hours. Six staff working at the yard left after raising the alarm, when smouldering smoke in a six-month-old pile of scrap suddenly burst into flames. The column of smoke could be seen from miles and led to anxious calls to police from people across Northumbria and county Durham. Hundreds of people gathered to watch as crews fought to stop the fire spreading to a neighbouring timber yard. The scrapyard’s managers said there was a 2,000-litre fuel store on the site, and emergency services are trying to check whether the scrap contained potentially dangerous chemicals. Two people have been treated by paramedics for minor injuries. No other buildings have been affected. Northumbria police closed local roads, including Leighton Street and Byker Bank, which runs by the 1960s Byker Wall above the Tyne. A further two roads, Ford and Lime Streets, were later closed and Albion Row was sealed off. The alarm was raised at 12.25pm. It has been too dangerous for forensic teams to start checking for possible causes of the blaze. The Byker Wall was designed as a “village in the sky” by the architect Ralph Erskine. Its 620 flats and maisonettes were built in the 1970s and have been the setting for many TV series and films. Newcastle Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Two people treated for minor injuries and residents evacuated as black smoke drifts over city Fifty firefighters are tackling a spectacular fire in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne that has sent clouds of black smoke billowing over the famous Byker Wall flats. Residents have been warned to stay inside and shut all doors and windows as thick smoke poured from tyres and oil-soaked car wrecks at a scrapyard in nearby Albion Row. A small number of local people were evacuated from their homes in Northumberland Row but are expected to be allowed back within hours. Six staff working at the yard left after raising the alarm, when smouldering smoke in a six-month-old pile of scrap suddenly burst into flames. The column of smoke could be seen from miles and led to anxious calls to police from people across Northumbria and county Durham. Hundreds of people gathered to watch as crews fought to stop the fire spreading to a neighbouring timber yard. The scrapyard’s managers said there was a 2,000-litre fuel store on the site, and emergency services are trying to check whether the scrap contained potentially dangerous chemicals. Two people have been treated by paramedics for minor injuries. No other buildings have been affected. Northumbria police closed local roads, including Leighton Street and Byker Bank, which runs by the 1960s Byker Wall above the Tyne. A further two roads, Ford and Lime Streets, were later closed and Albion Row was sealed off. The alarm was raised at 12.25pm. It has been too dangerous for forensic teams to start checking for possible causes of the blaze. The Byker Wall was designed as a “village in the sky” by the architect Ralph Erskine. Its 620 flats and maisonettes were built in the 1970s and have been the setting for many TV series and films. Newcastle Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …