S09E06 - Forced Marriages

A cake and bourbon show with no cake.  Or bourbon.  Or Ben.  Or Jonathan. What we do have though is an in depth look at the work of the family courts of England and Wales with a particular focus on the increasingly common issue of forced marriages. Have a listen right here. Joining Kirstin this week (actually in Podcast Towers for a change!) is Joseph Lynch.  He is a family law specialist whose work mainly involves public law cases - where a local authority is seeking to remove the child from the custody of the parents. Joe can...

S09E05 - A Conventional Episode

Two conventions this week - the Hague and the Refugee.  You can listen here. Jonathan Holt and Dan Bunting discuss s.31 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 which gives special criminal defences to asylum seekers. You can follow Dan and his musings at Dan Bunting a life in the bus lane.  uk criminal law blog and of course, on the Twitter @danbunting. The case that sparked the discussion is here Then we go on to discuss In the Matter of an application by Her Majesty's Solicitor General for the committal to prison of Jennifer Marie Jones for alleged...

S09E04 - Sticky Fingers

Listen here! This week Ben,Kirstin and Jonathan are joined by the lovely Lyndon Harris, barrister, blogger and Banks on Sentencing editor. Our discussion is all about imaginative approaches to theft offences.  First we look at Professor Andrew Ashworth's Howard League paper which suggests that Theft should not incur a prison sentence, then Lyndon gives broad support to the idea of giving shop-lifters food vouchers.  Jonathan Holt considers proposals for making Magistrates impose more custodial sentences and worries about the demise of more and more Magistrates' courts in which to issue those sentences. Finally we turn away from Criminal Law...

S09E03 - Mind Your Language?

This week's show (listen here) is brought to you courtesy of predatory comments made at Snaresbrook Crown Court and via Blackstones Criminal Law July Updater. Ben talks to Kate Hammond, former CPS Crown Advocate and to Keith Jones, both Barristers in Private Practice at Central Chambers in Manchester. They discuss the recent and much publicised use of the term "sexual predator" by Prosecuting Counsel, in relation to a 13-year-old victim. Kirstin joins Ben then to go through some interesting cases with differing bizarreness rating.  We answer the questions: 1. Whether it matters if you thought you were indulging...

S09E02 Causation, Contempt, Confiscation

You can listen to the episode here.  Note there is some swearing in this episode. This week we let Jonathan Holt out of the dungeon and we discuss a host of case law. First up is the current news favourite AG v Davey and AG v Beard 2 jurors found guilty of contempt of court via Facebook and internet research. Then we look at who can and cannot bring committal proceedings against those in breach of Forced Marriage Prevention Orders with a recent High Court Case. Ben runs us through some confiscation cases R v Sale and R v...