JUSTICE IN THE SHADOWS

At the turn of the century if one turned on the TV to watch a police or crime thriller it was almost certainly a work of fiction.  Over the next few years TV executives and writers began exploring the possibilities of a sub genre; mockumentaries and "reality" programming centred around routine police work and true life investigations.  Fast forward to present day and all manner of true crime is reflected on our screens from static traffic cams, motorway patrols to historical investigations of gruesome murders from initial crimes to eventual outcome for offenders.  Perhaps that format has outlived its popularity for some but with an ever expanding supply of visual media to be available for an insatiable viewing public demand must be satisfied.

This blog has long advocated and predicted that live court TV will eventually be sanctioned in this country and probably from magistrates courts locally funded with national control on advertising policy. That is the future but the live televising of a court was initiated  in September 2015   when STV became the first broadcaster to televise a Scottish court case live and in full. Four cameras were used in court one of the Court of Session in Edinburgh to cover a two-day Election Court case involving Alistair Carmichael. Four constituents were seeking to have Carmichael deselected as an MP after he leaked a memo in April to The Daily Telegraph which suggested that Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had told the French Ambassador she would prefer David Cameron to remain prime minister. 

On July 28th 2022 for the very first time a Crown Court judge`s sentencing remarks were televised live.  Her Honour Judge Sarah Munro QC in sentencing 25 year old Ben Oliver for the manslaughter of his grandfather said, "Time spent in remand would be deducted, resulting in a term of nine years and 63 days.  Once you have served that term, you will be entitled to apply for parole. However, you will not be released by the Parole Board unless they conclude you no longer pose a risk to the public. If you are released, you will remain on licence for the rest of your life."  And the pattern was set.  Since then broadcasters have filmed the sentencing of 33 offenders including Thomas Cashman and Wayne Couzens.  

February 26th was arguably the date on which another legal taboo was breached.  It was the broadcasting by ITV of the first of two hour long episodes concerning the killing of his wife by British Airways pilot Robert Brown.  Some distressing footage was shown including some of  Brown`s police interviews.  He was found not guilty of murder but was sentenced to 24 years custody for his admission of manslaughter. The programme appeared to have been inspired by pressure from the deceased`s mother and friends when they were informed that Brown was due to be released under license having almost served half his sentence.  Pertinent sections were portrayed  by actors from the trial transcript.  Understandably the programmes ended with observations by Brown`s lawyers that he was fairly cleared of murder by the jury according to the evidence and is entitled to fair treatment under the law including eligibility for parole.  The images of the jurors reacting with sorrow or perhaps disbelief at the judge`s remarks presumably based on eye witness accounts when he explained the unusually harsh manslaughter sentence were  certainly designed to show that with some of them there was a realisation that they had reached a perverse verdict.  As is his prerogative the Lord Chancellor blocked his release on license; a very unusual decision.  The matter will now go forward to a hearing of the Parole Board.  It is interesting to note below an extract of  a letter of 1st December 2023

 Letter from the Minister of State for Justice

The Government has also introduced amendments to the proposed reforms of the Parole Board, as well as changes to the creation of the Independent Public Advocate. The Government’s latest proposals reflect the concerns raised by the Chair of the Justice Committee in a letter to the Lord Chancellor on 7 June 2023.

On Parole, the Government’s initial plans would have allowed the Lord Chancellor to “call in” Parole Board decisions to release certain prisoners. The Committee said: “We cannot understand how a Secretary of State sitting in Whitehall can be better placed to make a release decision than the Parole Board which has had the opportunity to hear evidence from the prisoner first-hand.” The Government has now dropped this plan, and instead proposes to introduce a power to allow the Lord Chancellor to refer a certain release decision to the Upper Tribunal or the High Court.

Sentencing for serious criminality is apparently now a major attraction for broadcasters.  When such sentencing seems out of kilter with public perceptions especially in the most awful murder cases and/or bereaved families are particularly articulate or photogenic all pressures to pursue the victims` families` complaints are likely to be met with some sympathy by TV media with half an eye on their ability to attract audiences in this country and abroad.  I would opine that the outcome of the heinous murder of three people last year in Nottingham, when the judge accepting expert evidence that the accused Valdo Calocane would  be detained in a high-security hospital following his sentencing at Nottingham Crown Court, will be high on a list of suitable cases to be considered for in depth TV analysis.  Once again a sentencer`s sentencing remarks have provoked profound dismay within and without the legal fraternity insofar as he remarked that Calocane is likely never to be released, so that he can receive treatment for paranoid schizophrenia – a mental illness that can be “mitigated” with treatment but not cured. Judge Mr Justice Turner added he was satisfied Calocane would not have committed his “appalling” crimes had he not been suffering from the illness."

It is unlikely that the aforesaid decisions by judges have gone unnoticed by the policy wonks at the MOJ however with an impending general election affecting almost everything coming from government sources it will almost certainly be the next government which faces the reality that justice cannot be kept in the shadows from a wider audience for much longer.  The only caveat I can envisage is that by hurriedly exploiting a much tougher law `n order policy Tories would hope that their traditional voters will be less likely to abstain.