Bill to scrap jury trials reaches Lords
An alliance of peers, the legal profession and civil libertarians will stage a
last-ditch attempt today to force the Government to drop plans to scrap
juries for complex fraud cases (Frances Gibb writes). The Fraud (Trials
without a Jury) Bill comes before the House of Lords today after scraping
through the Commons by just 35 votes.
The Law Society, Bar Council and the law reform group Justice are urging peers
to vote on an amendment tabled by Lord Kingsland, the Shadow Lord
Chancellor, if carried, that would prevent the Bill from becoming law this
session.
The Bill is the third attempt to remove juries in serious fraud trials,
despite opposition from the legal profession. Last week Lord Goldsmith, QC,
the Attorney-General, insisted that the move was not part of an attack on
juries. But the Law Society and others said that trial by jury was a
fundamental right and an essential safeguard for the rule of law. It said:
“Juries provide a barrier against oppressive and politically motivated
prosecutions.”
Bank’s ex-chiefs go to court over bonu
Two banking executives who say they were responsible for securing a huge
European property deal for Deutsche Bank told the High Court that their
share of the profits had been “handed out” to other employees unconnected
with the transaction.
Paul Rivlin and Neil Lawson-May, who are suing the bank for about £5 million
for breach of contract, say that the money they should have received from
the deal went into a general bonus distribution fund. Deutsche Bank’s
response to the lawsuit had been that they were “paid far too much anyway”,
their counsel said. The bank says that their court claim is “wholly lacking
in merit”.
The hearing continues.
Paying the price
Poor financial information, a lack of good financial management in some
trusts, contract costing errors, and uneven application of Treasury resource
accounting and budgeting rules were reasons why the NHS had £251 million and
£570 million deficits in the past two years, the public accounts committee
says.
Cameron lead up
David Cameron’s poll advantage over Gordon Brown, his likely opponent at the
next general election, has widened to 15 points, according to a survey. The
ICM poll for The Guardian put the Conservatives on 43 per cent
compared with 28 per cent for a Labour Party led by the Chancellor.
Problem families
Problem families are costing the taxpayer up to £250,000 each a year when
bills for social services, prison, exclusion from school and drug treatment
are added together. Ministers have identified 140,000 families in this
“high-risk, high-cost” category and say the number has been static for
years.
‘4-year-old thief’
A gang involving children as young as 4 tricked their way into a 79-year-old
woman’s house and stole her purse, police said. The gang, two boys aged
between 7 and 8 and a girl aged between 4 and 5, told the victim, from
Barnstaple, Devon, that they were collecting for charity.
Fire victims named
Corporal Andy Greenough, 37, of Abertilley, Gwent, and his five-year-old son,
Evan, were named as the victims of a fire at an RAF base in Cyprus. A third
victim, believed to be a two-year-old girl, has yet to be identified. His
wife, Eirlys, was out when the fire broke out at their house on the base.
The couple also have a daughter.
Three arrested in bogus eggs inquiry
The bogus free-range egg inquiry has taken a new twist with three people —
including two managers at one of the biggest egg wholesalers in Britain —
being arrested and bailed on suspicion of conspiring to pervert the course
of justice (Valerie Elliott writes).
Two men employed by Stonegate at its grading and packing plant at Lacock, near
Chippenham, Wiltshire, are on police bail until April 13. They were
questioned by West Mercia police on Friday. The third man is Keith Owen,
co-owner of Heart of England Eggs, near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, which is
under investigation for allegedly passing off imported factory-farmed eggs
as British free-range. The Times reported yesterday that consumers in
Britain have been duped into buying fake free-range eggs for five years.
Stonegate said that the two managers were working and faced no charges.
Plea for physics
Physics should be taught as a subject in its own right with teachers shared
between schools to help to reverse a decline in the take-up of the subject,
a study by education experts at the University of Buckingham said. Between
1982 and 2005, entries for A-level physics halved, from more than 55,000 to
28,000.
Duke pays tribute
The Duke of Edinburgh attended a funeral service yesterday in support of a
royal gardener whose son was killed in action in Afghanistan this month. He
passed on condolences from the Queen at a service for Ben Reddy, 22, at the
Royal Chapel of All saints in Windsor Great Park
Recycling bottles
Milk bottles made in part from recycled plastic could become widespread in
British stores, a government-funded project says. They would reduce waste
from the 130,000 tonnes of plastic milk bottles used every year, the Waste
and Resources Action Programme said. Most plastic milk bottles go to
landfill sites.
Three hurt on bus
Three youths were treated in hospital after being assaulted on the upper deck
of a bus by a gang wielding batons and knives. Up to 14 offenders are
thought to have been involved in the attack, on a bus in Bordesley Green,
Birmingham. Police are linking the violence to an earlier assault.
Vicar hands out cash
A vicar astonished his flock when, instead of sending round the collection
plate, he handed out £1,600 in cash and told them to “go forth and
multiply”. The Rev Stuart Lee, vicar of St Matthew’s Church, Wimbledon,
southwest London, gave worshippers £20 each in the hope that they will use
it to make more money.
‘Poor housekeeping’ behind NHS deficit
Poor financial information, a lack of good economic management in some trusts,
contract costing errors and uneven application of Treasury rules were
reasons why the NHS had deficits of £251 million and £570 million in the
past two years, according to the the Public Accounts Committee.
Edward Leigh, MP, its chairman, said it was an uncomfortable truth that a
growing number of trusts were running a deficit that exceeded £1 billion in
March last year. They often seemed unable to return to the black, he said.
In some cases it was due to “a lack of interest by clinicians in financial
matters”.
50,000 women in study on births
A survey on maternity care in England was ordered by the Healthcare
Commission. Up to 50,000 women who gave birth in NHS trusts last month are
to be questioned. The study aims to help to improve standards in response to
a similar survey by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU).
Anna Walker, the commission’s chief executive, said that there was “room for
improvement” to the generally positive picture painted by the NPEU study.
Communication and information to patients and their families, including
ante-natal education and information about screening, was an area of
concern.
Hospital parking raised £95 million
NHS trusts in England raised £95 million from car parking fees in 2005-06,
despite calls from MPs and campaigners for charges to be cut back, according
to new figures released under the Freedom of Information Act (Nigel Hawkes
writes).
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation and Southampton University
Hospitals NHS trusts each raised more than £2.3 million from charges, and 30
others made more than £1 million. The total is £17 million more than in
2004-05. MPs had wanted hospital parking fees scrapped for patients visiting
daily and season tickets brought in for frequent visitors.
Wogan says sorry
Terry Wogan has apologised on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show for a blunder
that led to his announcing the wrong winner of Britain’s Eurovision Song
Contest entry on BBC One on Saturday night. He named the French singer
Cyndi, but seconds later Fearne Cotton, his co-host, confirmed Scooch had
won.
Sentence increased
A man who murdered his teenage stepdaughter has had his minimum sentence
increased from 16½ years to 21 years by the Court of Appeal. Three judges
said that the term imposed on Stephen Pollard was “unduly lenient”. Pollard,
32, strangled 13-year-old Sophie Comins at their home in Hull.
Murderer given life
A labourer has been jailed for life for sexually assaulting and murdering a
woman whose body was later found dumped in a river. Aaron Venna, 24, of
Taunton, Somerset, was given a minimum tariff of 25 years at St Albans Crown
Court after being found guilty of murdering Serena Mahoney, 26, in March
last year.
Tree kills driver
A man was killed when a falling tree crushed his pickup truck. Police were
called to Old Warwick Road in Lapworth, Warwickshire, after reports that a
person was trapped inside the vehicle. Warwickshire Police are to hold an
inquiry to establish whether the tree had root damage.
