Current Awareness

A man has been given a suspended jail sentence for attacking two Star Wars fans while dressed as Darth Vader.”

Full story

BBC News, 13th May 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

“A former Lincolnshire policeman, once hailed for saving an 11-year-old boy’s life, has been jailed for two years for abusing his partner.”

Full story

BBC News, 25th April 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

“A judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of a Darth Vader impersonator who allegedly attacked two Star Wars fans in their own back garden.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 23rd April 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

“A 19-year-old man has been charged over a faith-hate attack on a clergyman in the grounds of his east London church.”

Full story

BBC News, 26th March 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

“A woman who told a gang of swearing teenage girls to be quiet spent 16 hours in a police cell after being falsely accused of assault.”

Full story

BBC News, 25th March 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

“One serious attack takes place every 45 minutes in the overcrowded jails of England and Wales as prison staff struggle to cope with soaring levels of violence. Ministry of Justice figures reveal the number of assaults on prisoners by cellmates have rocketed from 1,790 in 1996 to 11,826 last year, a rise of 561 per cent in just over a decade.”

Full story

The Independent, 3rd March 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

“A senior police officer has criticised magistrates after they chose not to jail a man who beat up a police constable because the country’s prisons are too full.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 27th February 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

“On 20 February 2008 the Sentencing Guidelines Council published its definitive guidelines on ‘Assault and Other Offences Against the Person’ and ‘Overarching Principles: Assaults on Children and Cruelty to a Child.’

Full text

Sentencing Guidelines Council, 20th February 2008

Source: www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk

“A middle-aged man has been jailed after marching into the business-class section of a flight from Thailand and hurling a passenger into the aisle so he could take his seat.”

Full story

The Times, 14th January 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

“A man has been jailed for four years for a sex attack on a single mother who killed herself after seeing footage of the attack on a mobile phone.”

Full story

BBC News, 19th December 2007

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

“A police investigation to prosecute a 12-year-old for throwing a cocktail sausage at a neighbour has cost £20,000.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 19th December 2007

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

“No police officer is to be prosecuted as a result of the controversial incident in which a young woman was arrested outside a Sheffield nightclub last year, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.”

Full story

The Guardian, 12th December 2007

Source: www.guardian.co.uk 

“A teacher accused of assaulting a disruptive pupil wept as an appeal court quashed his conviction.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 23rd November 2007

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

“A man promised a court that he would shave off his Edwardian-style, dandy moustache as a way of making amends for a charge of common assault.”

Full story

The Times, 12th October 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

“A 12-year-old boy was charged with assault and taken before the courts - for throwing a cocktail sausage.”

Full story

BBC News, 22nd August 2007

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

“A supply teacher has been cleared of hitting a 13-year-old boy who teased him about looking like a character from the Chuckle Brothers’ TV show.”

Full story

BBC News, 19th July 2007

Source: www.bbc.co.uk