The theft of metal from railway lines throughout the country was responsible for 6,088 hours of delays in 2010, according to National Rail, the company responsible for the UK’s rail infrastructure.
Metal is not only going missing from railway lines – thieves are stealing metal from roofs, including public libraries; playgrounds; telecoms cables; statues; front doors; and graveyards. (more…)
The Department of Education’s statistics have revealed that despite the number of children in care being the highest since 1987, the number of babies adopted in England last year fell to an astonishingly low 60.
Children’s Minister Tim Loughton said the figures were “worrying” and a “timely reminder” that more needs to be done for children in care. (more…)
A judge has ruled in the High Court today that a severely brain-damaged woman cannot die, despite pleas from her family who say she would not want to live her life being totally dependent on others.
Mr Justice Barker ruled that the woman, who is minimally conscious, has “some positive experiences” and that there is a sufficient chance for these experiences to increase. (more…)
The Law Commission has launched a consultation over its plans to reform the law on kidnap and remove the loophole that could see an offender jailed for just seven years for kidnapping a child.
It said the current definition of kidnap is confusing and ambiguous, and prosecutors usually have to rely on other offenses committed at the same time as the kidnapping to ensure the perpetrator is jailed for a suitable length of time. (more…)
It has emerged that the Hampshire police are investigating a comment in the official Jehovah’s Witness magazine, The Watchtower, which calls those who have left the faith “mentally diseased”.
A group of former witnesses, or ‘apostates’ as they are called by the faith, based in Portsmouth complained to the police after reading the article. The police are investigating to determine if the comments breach the UK’s religious hatred laws. (more…)
The Attorney General Dominic Grieve is to write to Ken Clarke voicing his concerns, and the concerns of hundreds of family law lawyers and judges, about the removal of legal aid for family matters arising from divorce.
The Government’s plans to cut legal aid for divorce are currently before Parliament in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. The Attorney General will say that the removal of legal aid for divorce will flood the family courts with DIY litigants who do not know what they are doing, and this will cause huge delays. (more…)
A teenager has been jailed for contempt of court after taking a picture of proceedings in Luton Crown Court and sending it to a friend.
Paul Thompson, 19, was sentenced to two months in jail by Judge Barbara Mensah. Upon hearing his sentence, Thompson said “that’s stupid, man”. (more…)
Albert Haines, 52, has been detained under the Mental Health Act for 23 years, most of which has been spent at Broadmoor Hospital alongside notorious criminals such as Peter Sutcliffe and Robert Napper.
He began his campaign for release in 2009 after his diagnosis was changed, and next week will put his case to the mental health tribunal in a public hearing. This is thought to be the first time such a hearing will be held in the open. (more…)
A young couple have been told by their local council to move out of the shed they have been living in for the past year, as it does not provide “adequate living conditions” and will set an “undesirable precedent”.
Victoria Campbell and her fiancé Bill Warden have been living in the specially constructed shed in her parent’s back garden in order to save up a £20,000 deposit so they can buy their own place and get on the property ladder. (more…)
The London-based group Anglo American is facing legal action from 450 gold miners from South Africa who claim they contracted lung disease while working in unsafe conditions.
The class action is the latest in a series of lung disease compensation claims to have hit the mining industry, and experts say these compensation claims could end up costing the industry billions. (more…)
