BELOW A PSEPHOLOGICAL HORIZON

It is my opinion that the period 2024-2029 will be discussed by future historians as probably the most significant period in the political development of this country since 1940-1945; the year in which the country`s wartime leader was dumped at the polls by a population that by his power of will he had probably saved from catastrophe.  

There was hope that a new government last year would tell us the reality of a nation that for a decade had been living beyond its means and its plan to balance the financial books. Instead we had obfuscation bordering on lies.  Overwhelming majorities of the last two general elections seem to be a prelude to a volcanic upheaval of all that will have gone before.  Included in the political mix was the 2024 election of five MPs whose prime interest lies not in the wellbeing and representation of their constituents but in the condition of 2.2 million fellow Muslims 2,000 miles away suffering the backlash of their invasion of an adjoining nation.  There are currently 3.9 million Muslims in the UK according to the 2021 census making up 6.5% of the population, 1.2 million more than in 2011 census. Most Muslims see the Labour Party as their natural home but the situation in Gaza has radicalised many younger Muslims. That in itself is likely to produce a backlash to the benefit of an upsurge in support for Reform.  Concern over the risk threatened from that combination of circumstances the Labour government is toying with the idea of cosying up to Muslim voters by offering the possibility of a blasphemy law in practice if not in law.  What some might describe as a test case recently resulted in the conviction of a public book burner, a case which might go to appeal.  The reasoning of the judge [it was a summary matter] could be summarised as follows:-

Disorderly Conduct:

The judge deemed the defendant's actions to be disorderly due to the public nature of the burning, the presence of people likely to be caused distress, and the accompanying language used.

Provocation:

The act of burning a religious book was seen as highly provocative, especially when done in front of a consulate which is a place where people would be more likely to be offended.

Motivation:

The judge concluded that the burning was at least partially motivated by hatred of Muslims, not just a general criticism of Islam. The defendant's Islamophobic comments during police interviews also contributed to this conclusion.

No Blasphemy Law Expansion:

The judge explicitly rejected the idea that the prosecution was an attempt to bring back or expand blasphemy laws.

Sentencing:

Because the offence was found to be religiously aggravated, the sentence was uplifted to reflect this.

The judge`s actual sentencing remarks are here.

Not content with this verdict the government with deathly silence has classified the belief that the West is under threat from mass migration as a "terrorist ideology".  On the website for "Prevent" "cultural nationalism" is listed as a belief that could lead to a person being referred to the programme according to a report in the Daily Telegraph. Assuming the veracity of the report it would appear that the underlying authoritarian streak in Labour seeks to stifle criticism of the increasing Islamist influence within the party`s left wing.  Marxism and Islamism have been united in their antisemitic attacks purportedly in support of Palestinian  "rights". The widespread chants of "from the river to the sea" heard at anti Israel gatherings are clear in their determination that that nation should cease to exist as a Jewish state. 

The government in this matter and others is behaving and reacting like the captain of the ill fated Titanic which left Cherbourg with high expectation and headed into calamity at full steam ahead.  The electoral minimisation of Nigel Farage and Reform has, within the government, been declared its main objective as was the "Blue Riband" for the Titanic`s voyage to New York.  Just as the iceberg caused a tragedy instead of a triumph Labour`s kowtowing to Islamism will improve the likelihood that Farage will have a major effect in government activities post the next general election.  Unlike the fated ship`s captain Starmer has still the time and opportunity to change course but it seems increasingly unlikely that that there is a willingness or resolve to recognise increasing problems with and within his party of Marxists Muslims and money,  integration and immigration.  And like the iceberg 90% is below the psephological horizon of planners, punters and pollsters. 

AN OCCASIONAL STATE OF OUR COURTS` ACTIVITIES

 

THREE OF A KIND

Constitutional law is well above my pay grade but for those politically minded this article might provoke some interesting considerations. 

In what might be described as a who rules here case at Trinity College Cambridge a pro-Palestine encampment on Trinity lawn was dismantled yesterday morning (02/06), after the College acquired an interim high court injunction against protesters.  Deny it as they will there is no doubt that immature academic minds have absorbed more than most others the hateful propaganda emanating from the awful Gaza conflict.  For those with perhaps limited memories academics at all levels within their institutions in 1920s and 1930s Germany were amongst the most eager to absorb the increasingly lurid antisemitic tropes disseminated by Joseph Goebbels and his acolytes prior to the Nazis gaining power in 1933. .   

Finally an interesting case before the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office last month might provoke some reaction.  Readers of course will come to their own conclusions but I do wonder if presented to an individual applying for the magistracy whether or not it would be an encouraging feature.  Is there perhaps a case of a deeper delve into magistracy applicants` mores including political and/or social opinions?

BEING CRITICAL OF MUSLIMS

 

Is this the beginning of a Muslim push for a blasphemy law?

ADDENDUM 3rd JUne 2025

For a reasoned critique of the case read the thoughts of Humanists UK.

24th AUGUST 75AD POMPEI TIME

A couple of weeks in a warm climate where the habits and requirements of a normal lifestyle are laid aside for the indulgencies associated with retirement do not change the cycle of domestic happenings even when "roaming" is turned off and TV stations offer very limited choice in the English language.  

The recent domestic happening of interest to those associated however loosely with the legal and criminal justice system must be the announcements by the justice secretary of proposed changes to sentencing of offenders driven by the chronic shortage of prison places.  If ever there was an example of the political tail wagging the political dog this must surely be it.  

In 2010 the then justice secretary Kenneth Clarke was exuberantly proclaiming to his cabinet colleagues that he was first in line to declare his department`s budget cut of 23.8%.  Amongst his 11 Tory successors to 2024 was the thoroughly incompetent Chris Grayling 2012-2015 who emasculated the probation service. During the Tories period in office there were 8 Home Secretaries 2010-2024 including the ineffective Theresa May  and the proof that there really is truth in *Peter`s Principle;  the misbegotten Liz Truss. 5 Prime Ministers have ruled over us between 2010 and 2024 including the "I wannabe king of the world" Boris Johnson and the pair of aforesaid home secretaries promoted beyond their competence.  Is it any wonder that our nation is in its current mess. 

But it`s not only justice where good sense has been sacrificed to government  hope for sympathetic headlines in the Daily Tale or Daily Excess. Health, Education and Defence have experienced similar salami slicing of capital, expertise and predictive abilities.  Failure and collapse within policing and prisons and all stops in between has been apparent for 15 years.  Figures associated with crime and offending have been as statistically valid as counting the number of angels on a pinhead.  This was known by every single person and department within Whitehall and Petty France.  Covid exposed the reality beneath the chimera. 

From bringing up children to the threat of nuclear war deterrence is a common factor for most eventualities except in the thought processes of the MOJ.  Shoplifting less than £200 value?  No problem.  Bike theft? No problem? Car theft? No problem. Phone theft? No problem.  Make a supposedly offensive remark or be critical of an employee and face police arrest or a tribunal.  Criticise even in studied language immigration or those who would change the fundamentals of being British and there is a risk of being denounced as a racist.  And for the most vociferous of "progressives"  if one agrees with J.K. Rowling`s opinions of the transgender debate a fate worse than death should befall the individual.

It is becoming ever more obvious that the current government will fail. From 2019 and Boris Johnson`s 43.6% vote share with 365 seats and Keir Starmer`s 411 seats with 33.7% it is apparent that the British people find little hope when changing their vote from the devil to the deep blue sea.  The failure to deter, arrest, convict and incarcerate offenders is now deeply ingrained in the politics of the electorate. No longer is the failure of an outdated concept of providing health provision allowing for reasoned debate.  "Our NHS" has become a totem or religious relic from an age when this country basked in the fading glory of king and empire.  Populism results in a combination of offering socialism where it suits to nationalism when it appeals.  It is the public response to a political situation where the previously normal choices of right and left have been left behind.  It is like a previously considered dormant volcano about to erupt.  It is spontaneous and destructive.  It is now in the UK August 24th 75AD Pompei Time.  

*PETER`S PRINCIPLE

The Peter Principle states that people in an organization or company will be promoted until they are no longer qualified, filling that organisation or company with incompetent leadership.

PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE

Despite having had all the vaccinations known to the NHS for those like me of a certain age the flu virus is taking its toll of my patience.  I hope that a couple of weeks in the sunnier, warmer climes of Greece will return to me a taste for good food and wine to be savoured outdoors followed by a fine Havana cigar.  

Accordingly there will be no updates here until such time that the future has become just a fading memory.   This blog has posts since 2013 and so I hope to add to them by the end of May. 

RETIRED MAGISTRATES CAN BE SEEN BUT NOT HEARD

For some magistrates being able to metaphorically strut around squawking their JP status like a peacock wooing a peahen is their primary interest in serving our justice system.  On my bench which numbered about 300 I would estimate by conversations over many years perhaps 10% were not unhappy to demonstrate their "status" as being what they considered a perk of the job. For my own part even my neighbours didn`t know I was a magistrate until it became known after my retirement which brings me to the position of magistrates when they leave the bench at 75 or younger as might be the case.  They are automatically moved on to the supplemental list.  This transition allows them continual use of the suffix JP but removes virtually all the previous powers and privileges.  

Magistrates on the supplemental list may not:

• sit in a magistrates’ court to adjudicate on cases
• sign summonses or warrants, including search warrants
• be a member of any committee or any other body as a magistrate
• take part in the election of chairman or deputy chairman of any bench
• attend any formal or business meeting of their former bench
• countersign an application for a shotgun or firearms licence
• sign off statutory declarations.

However, and it`s a big however, such retired magistrates are still subject to all the do`s and don`ts issued by the Lord Chancellor.  There must be very many who are unaware of those prohibitions or choose to ignore them as being irreplaceable enhancements to their own egos. Such was the case of Reverend Terence Young JP.  

There are amongst all occupations and/or professions those whose ego outperforms their abilities.  They do not have to be retired to be caught in the spotlight.  They are all around us their self aggrandisement to be pricked before harming those around them. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF WOKE?

Trump was grandstanding of course but his tirade against Diversity Equity and Inclusion [DEI]  was met here by the predictable as predictable for the predictable.  Those who rode the equine woke spectre of all things achieved and yet to be destroyed like the horsemen of the apocalypse  were aghast.  Those on the right accustomed of late to being called out as racist if they referred to Flopsy as a white rabbit felt at long last that finally the world or a good part of it was beginning to see the truth that woke is a chimera; it has no reality just as a woman now by the grace of the supreme court can be legally said not to have a penis now, not ever.  Those employed in the private sector are now on prozac awaiting a possible appointment with their HR departments.  The civil service, however, is almost a law unto itself.  And His Majesty`s Courts and Tribunal Service  is a flag bearer for woke. The costs and numbers of those employed in the organisation who have as their main or associated function the study, policy input, activity and implementation of DEI over the last five years have recently been revealed in a Freedom of Information request the results of which are copied below.  I make no comment on these numbers but assume some readers will make their own conclusions. 

ARE WE APPROACHING THE DEMOCRATIC PARADOX?

First there were guilds and guilds begat trade unions and laterally professional associations all with the purpose of protecting their members` interests. The industrial age of the 19th century saw trade unions morph into political parties but professional associations generally kept within their constitutional boundaries and/or pursued their political aims behind closed doors. An oft quoted exception was the medical profession`s fight against the establishment of a national health service. We are living with the consequences of privately operated general practices where every measurement taken be it weight, blood pressure etc is subject to a tick box reward of ££.  But within the hospital sector doctors on the gravy train to consultant status have realised that strength is in numbers and they have as in the recent past rallied round a flag this time of opposition to the recent Supreme Court`s ruling on women.  It seems that the marxist overcoat wearing leaders extending to their followers are once again on a collision course with elected government.  

The hate engendered marchers whose sympathy for the cause of those in Gaza is as much an opportunity to express in public their hate not just for Jews in Israel but Jews per se were given the green light by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to continue their intimidating diatribes.  Muslim rioters have been given to a certain extent a real tangible get out of jail free card.  Five Muslim MPs seem more interested in Gaza than their own constituencies.  Their fellow religionists in Sudan, Yemen and Syria where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed are not on their radar.  I wonder why. 

Health, Education, Defence and Justice have been starved of funds for over 20 years and yet the headline in today`s Times is "Milkshakes tax looms in broader sugar levy".  The Left, in and out of parliament, screams "tax the rich" as they have been doing for decades.  There is still cash in the pockets of UK citizens; would some of that money be better spent by government than individuals?  Research indicates that more people are planning to take holidays abroad in 2025 compared to previous years and 20% of all travellers had already booked two or more international trips for 2025 before the end of last year.  

If, as is possible, the four departments of state as above, are still being starved of funds in 2029 and the frivolities of a woke culture have been shown to be superfluous to economic well being,  we might survive a crisis for democracy as we have known it since 1945. If not the Democratic Paradox looms.  Perhaps on the principle of salami slicing we are already within its radius.  

21st NOVEMBER 2010

Having just published the entry from my magistrate`s diary for 21. November 2010 https://amagistratesdiaries.blogspot.com/ and with the current controversy over the possibility of a "mongrel" court minus a jury and comprising a District Judge with two magistrate wingers I have copied here that day`s entry below.

There has been much attention paid to Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice and the judiciary`s main man. This is as it should be. And when he comments on the jury system everybody listens and that also is how it should be. But critical comment has been………… pianissimo.

The good lord has explained his discomfort in that jurors might seek further knowledge from outside the courtroom when considering facts pertaining to a case. In other words they might seek to increase their knowledge by the common man`s most accessible source of information……the internet……. which might offer many things but in general terms is an enormous fantasamagorical library with an indexing system easy enough for Joe Blogs to find in seconds eg the Italian musical term for playing softly. But in the good old days only toffs and so called intellectuals had shelves full of books which contained information that was or could be useful for or of interest to them. Of course in those days old or good most such folk declined to serve on juries; they were too busy or considered themselves too important to judge their fellow man. Now that`s all changed and everybody……..or is anybody a better description?……..can be chosen for jury service. And that`s the point. There is no consideration of anybody`s intelligence or ability to follow the performance, to appreciate the hurdle “beyond reasonable doubt”, no test to ascertain the limits of anybody`s understanding of the English language or anybody`s capability of balancing the credibility of witnesses or the facility for anybody to comprehend a judge`s summing up. Truly anybody can be a bit thick but then that`s why we have a jury of twelve people who can be anybody. Of course under current attitudes supposedly handed down from Magna Carta and modified for current times peer review by any other term is what determines a defendant`s guilt or innocence.

In effect the LCJ is complaining that ignorant jurors trying to fulfil their task are seeking knowledge outside the courtroom which others in their group might already possess by virtue of their education, profession, general or specific knowledge or quite simply a higher IQ. Universal jury service is now an outmoded concept and sooner or later a senior member of the judiciary, probably after retirement, will step into the public arena and say so. This is not to say I am advocating judge[s] only courts……I am against the practice of single District Judges acting in trials as both judge and jury. I am suggesting that the concept of juries now constituted is not an 11th commandment notwithstanding the recent paper Are Juries Fair? Another interesting paper taking a wide historical perspective is A Historical and Comparative Perspective on the Common Law Jury . More research should be undertaken into possible variations to ensure that justice is done and seen to be done lest another government with similar authoritarian tendencies as those which lurked in Downing Street from 1997 until May pulls up its drawbridge and judge[s] only trials risk becoming commonplace.

KNIFE CRIME FROM NOW TO 2029?

How far into the depths of authoritarianism are we prepared to descend in order to ensure our streets are safe?  Even a decade ago such a question would have been or seemed ridiculous; not anymore.  Analysis of many public attitudes 2025 does not make for comfortable reading.  Opportunistic street crime including shop theft can affect anyone and everyone.  There can hardly be a single person who is unaware of a friend, relative or colleague who has been a victim of or witness to such everyday events.  

Woke influencers and journalists alongside self seeking politicians sought to diminish the frequency of stop and search for knives  irrespective of the facts that the large  cohort of those searched and their victims was black youths or young people.  In this House of Commons table I would point out that the ethnicity of offenders and victims is omitted.  That would seem to be deliberate policy; overlook that the king "is in the altogether" i.e. has no clothes and the public will be mollified by the naked scandal in its midst.

Between 2019/20 and 2021/22, a third of black homicide victims were aged 20 or younger. This compares to 13% of white victims and 25% of victims from the other ethnic groups.  At 31/03/2023 there were 24.5 stop and searches for every 1,000 black people and 5.9 for every 1,000 white people.  A comprehensive analysis of stop and search encounters is available here. 

There are a thousand and one opinions and statistics on knife crime.  And there are many who manipulate fact, figures and fiction to promote their own point of view as a basis of what should be done to reduce or even eliminate this awful aspect of our society.  Their shrills will become louder up to 2029.  Let us hope that reason can prevail for the sakes of the offenders as well as their victims so that my opening sentence is irrelevant. 

BENEATH THE TIMES

Lessons will be learned. How often is that the final sentence uttered by somebody reading or writing from a prepared script to apologise for the failings of some authority, organisation or quango when public ire has forced remedial action to be taken over long known failings which more often than not have been covered up by those in the know.  So many Chief Constables and other senior police officers have resigned or been fired in the last 15 years that there is no easily obtained source to see the extent of their failings and/or wrong doings. In similar fashion many hospital trusts have been castigated for being unable to deliver the required standard of care demanded medically and in some cases legally.  When such happenings are finally recognised government drags its feet to the shame of all of us whose trust has been misplaced.  The current scandal at the post office took a TV programme to shame the government. The tainted blood scandal going back decades is, to this very day, not fully resolved but with every dying victim the compensation will be lessoned. Retribution for the Hillsborough tragedy might still to be said, incomplete after over 30 years. 

And so to the Times Crime and Justice Commission now published.  In The Times today there is a synopsis under the following headings:-

• Shoplifting, robbery and anti social behaviour
• Knife crime and gangs
• Violence against women and girls
• Cybercrime and fraud
• Terrorism, radicalisation and online harms
• The role of technology
• The causes of crime
• Policing
• The courts
• Sentencing
• Prisons and probation

These topics have not appeared from an alien planet; they have been systematically ignored by those with the power to have done something about them years or even decades ago.

There are common causes which link the above with examples in the opening paragraph:  I would suggest that apart from misguided parsimony in the allocation of adequate funding there is a tolerance to or acceptance of incompetence in the highest reaches of management and/or a preference by government for brushing under the political carpet those matters which would cause embarrassment or worse still affect the chances of some favoured MPs being re-elected.    

Shoplifting is a perfect example.  With much reduced police numbers and no time or personnel available to investigate; half magistrates courts closed and a decimated probation service lead to reduced sentencing combined with no prison cells for short custodial sentencing of recidivists. Result is an explosion in such crime.  A similar tale of woe is seen re theft of mobile phones.  Similar chains have been created with similar links in so many aspects of what has been since the beginning of this millenium a woke attitude to so much that held our society together. 

There has been much discussion about the increase of autocracy in the world.  Autocrats including the one causing recent economic headaches don`t appear from Aladdin's  magic lamp; they are a result of democratic processes which have developed since 1945 failing many sections of a society.  It`s not inconceivable that in 2029 with another showman as prime minister experts will wonder how such a nation as the UK could fall from grace.

In 1927 the BBC adopted the motto, "Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation".  That phrase encompassed what this country thought it stood for.  Hitler had already published Mein Kampf and Mussolini had been in power for five years.  Few could foresee what was around the corner.  We have had 25 years of moral, social, financial and political decline. There will be some{many?} who will vent their frustrations at the ballet box.  So many countries have voted for authoritarianism, why should we think we are any different?  That is the hidden message beneath the report from The Times. ​

THEY APPEALED

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales was created in 1875 and is split into two permanent Divisions; the Civil Division (which hears family cases as well as a range of civil appeals) and the Criminal Division which hears appeals against criminal convictions and sentences.  The Industrial Revolution led to an increase in the number and complexity of court cases and the need for court reform to deal with them.  The Court of Appeal was created as part of this new court. Following reforms contained in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

For most people the Court of Appeal is of interest mainly when high profile criminal cases are involved but for many reasons the civil matters can be as highly significant as are the ferociously  paddling  webbed feet of a swan apparently moving effortlessly and serenely on the surface of a meandering river.  The following links are to some Court of Appeal decisions that are unlikely to feature in any but specialist journals or websites.

The following is of interest because it focuses on when a post on social media is considered merely objectionable or hateful. 

Some [many?] readers will be aware of the case in 2015, when Shamima Begum, along with two other schoolmates, travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) group and Begum was stripped of her British citizenship in 2019 after being found in a Syrian camp.  An unrelated but similar equally tragic case was heard recently at the Court of Appeal.

Immigration and its corollary deportation are probably amongst the top considerations of all our political parties` leaders and a matter of huge interest for many in this country.  The many possible interventions in the path of the deportation of immigrants legal and illegal are welcome fodder for the hordes of rabble rousers at all levels of the political spectrum.  This is a recent case. 

More than once I have opined that sometimes Scots law appears to offer a more logical road to justice than that of England and Wales.  Academics within the legal profession might find  Scots Law Influencing English Law on Deposits and Debt within Edinburgh Private Law Blog of interest.

Increasingly media items on the pros, cons, merits and safeguarding of whistleblowers grab our attention but it`s not always a bed of roses for those subsidised or not by interested parties  who consider themselves unjustly treated by large organisations or corporations.  Some are won and some are lost. 

Finally today there is the case of the chicken shops and their potential customers.  On the assumption that many of the sales at such establishments take place late in the evening when some of these customers might be worse for wear from over indulgence at local hostelries does the logo at the aforementioned takeaways have much significance?  Read what the Court of Appeal decided. 

v

LONDON PHONE THEFTS AND NEW YORK`S BROKEN WINDOWS

Like so much shouted about the Metropolitan Police being the largest most efficient and oldest police force in Great Britain these claims are not true except the first.  The idea of a civic force to keep order on the streets was pioneered in Glasgow arguably in 1789 but not until 1800 did the establishing Act receive Royal Assent. The aims of its founders were absorbed forty years later by Robert Peel and the Met was established in 1829.  And to this day the louder the trumpeting of Scotland Yard the quicker its shine is covered in ordure. 

In more recent times 1994 the New York Police Commissioner Bratton and  Mayor Giuliani coined the term zero tolerance  as their policy for reducing the criminal activity which had exploded in the preceding decade and was infecting many activities within the city especially commerce and tourism.  The example used was that every minor incident of law breaking eg broken windows would be investigated and the offenders seen to be punished.  Building on that policy increasingly successful prosecutions against career criminals produced a real reduction in serious crime. Between 1990 and 1999 homicide dropped 73%, burglary 66%, assault 40%, robbery 67%, and vehicle theft 73%. Whilst employment and standard of living rose in the 1990s contributing to crime reduction there is no doubt that a significant factor was the expanded NYPD and a crack down on all crime including minor offending.

From a personal point of view I well remember driving along 5th Avenue in 1995 and seeing a police officer at every corner of each block and another at every cross road. 

And so it is mid afternoon on the last Sunday in March and my son and his fiancee are strolling near Leicester Square in London`s west end when she discovers to her horror that the youth who had rudely brushed by her a couple of minutes previously had stolen her iPhone.  After that initial shock they reacted by doing what is advised in such a situation and summarised below:- 

1. Report the Theft:

File a Police Report:

Immediately file a police report with the Metropolitan Police Service (or your local police force). This is crucial for potential insurance claims and for helping the police if they can track down your phone. 

Contact Your Mobile Provider:

Call your mobile network provider (e.g., Vodafone, EE, O2, Three) and report the theft. They can block the phone and SIM card to prevent unauthorized use and help with a replacement SIM. 

2. Secure Your Accounts:

Change Your Passwords:

Change the passwords for all your important accounts, including email, banking, social media, and any other accounts accessible from your phone. 

Contact Your Bank:

Inform your bank about the theft and request that they freeze your cards and any mobile banking access to prevent unauthorized transactions. 

Notify Insurance Providers:

If you have insurance that covers your phone, contact your insurance company to file a claim. 

3. Additional Steps:

Remote Wipe (If Necessary):

If you suspect your phone is in the wrong hands and you can't recover it, consider remotely wiping the data to protect your personal information. 

Track Your Phone (If Possible):

If your phone has a tracking feature (like Find My iPhone or Find My Device on Android), use it to try and locate it. 

Note Down Device Information:

If you haven't already, write down your phone's make, model, serial number, and IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number. This information can be helpful for police and insurance purposes. 

Using my son`s phone they did most of the above and within half an hour had traced the phone`s location to one of two flats at WC2H ### about a short brisk walk away from their current position.  Of course they had told the police immediately of this location but the Metropolitan Police officer told them they were unable to assist.  In 2023 it`s estimated that in London alone 64,000 mobile phones were stolen and between July 2023 and July 2024 84,000 were stolen. Criminologists suggest that organised criminal gangs are at work supplying ready markets in China and other countries.

The above tale of woe is a further example of how slowly and steadily British society is disintegrating and democratic political choices seem incapable of providing answers.  From a  prime minister accepting funds from a Labour donor to enable him to have designer glasses and suitable clothing to MPs guilty of assault via additional MP`s expenses to keep a dog and myriad other examples to corruption, misconduct and malfeasance  in public office by senior police officers, faith in the justice system is at an all time low. 

In addition confidence that supervisory bodies are fulfilling the requirements entrusted to them to keep NHS bodies safe for use is hardly encouraging.  Despite the publicity given to illegal immigration on small boats it is legal immigration seemingly out of control which has supplied the massive increase to our population over just a few short years. 

Just how long can a society hold out against such pressures as above which are but a microcosm of the failures of government going back half a century.  Rome wasn`t built in a day but the decline of the Western Roman Empire is generally considered to have begun in the late 4th century AD with significant events marking this period. While there is no single date that signifies the start of the decline several key factors and events contributed to it:

Crisis of the Third Century (235-284 AD): This period saw political instability, economic decline, and military defeats, which weakened the empire significantly.

Division of the Empire (285 AD): Emperor Diocletian's division of the Roman Empire into the Eastern and Western Roman Empires created administrative challenges and set the stage for divergent paths.

Barbarian Invasions: From the late 4th century onward, various tribes, including the Visigoths and Vandals, began invading Roman territories, leading to significant territorial losses.

Sack of Rome (410 AD): The Visigoths, led by Alaric, famously sacked Rome, symbolizing the empire's vulnerability.

Fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD): The traditional date for the fall of the Western Roman Empire is 476 AD, when the last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the Germanic king Odoacer.

Overall, the decline was a gradual process influenced by internal strife, economic troubles and external pressures.

It doesn`t take wild powers of imagination to overlay the above litany with events post 1945 in the UK.

Mobile phone theft is for us the broken windows of New York. But we in London most surely do not have a Bratton or Guliani; would that we had. Do those who rule us have awareness of our dire situation or are they ignorant and hoping for the best? As my post 18th March ended: time will tell.

JUSTICE NOT SITTING AGAIN

 

ANYTHING YOU SAY MIGHT BE USED ETC ETC ETC

Once again the provincial press is the vehicle of choice for the MOJ to spread some largesse to the local press barons and others who are finding it more and more difficult to balance the books when an ever increasing number of on line sites are licking the financial cream offered by Gen Z and Millennials.  As I opined last week with reference to the supposed benefits to the prospective employer of employing a magistrate a valid interpretation could be with apologies to President Kennedy at his inauguration: "It`s not how  a magistrate can boost an employer; it`s how an employer can boost a magistrate".  Now it is over 20 years since the minimum age for magistrates was reduced from 27 to 18; an early example where political expediency and fashionable expectations overcame common sense and experience for appointers and appointees. A time when school pupils became students and child centred learning was the modus operendi of educators. When the acquisition of knowledge was secondary to the attainment of understanding.  When the hardships and ups and downs of everyday life were  classified as syndromes or medicalised to be assisted by an expanding cadre of "specialists" and an enlarging pharmacopeia. 

The published remarks of a recently appointed magistrate, a current example of an advertising agency`s answer to a MOJ demand for "local people for local justice" are quite revealing.  My bench like most I suppose had a sprinkling of solicitors and barristers some of whom were practising criminal law.  In common with many colleagues our opinions of those people were offered only in private and to whom we had faith in their confidentiality.  At age 22 with two children, displaying her idiosyncrasy of body piercing and ambition to be a barrister readers might consider that she is a much needed token to youth or that I retain the essence of my dinosaur heritage.   

Every day there are published unusual cases involving magistrates courts and sometimes magistrates themselves.  There are a few recently that I personally never encountered nor any remotely similar. 

An airline pilot failed to respond to air traffic control last week causing a major incident at Manchester airport.  The limited report doesn`t offer an answer to the obvious question of what was the reason for the pilot`s silence.  There is no mention of when this incident took place.  Are authorities hoping this matter will just fade away?  

A Christian teacher was found guilty of  unacceptable professional conduct after telling her pupils  "that being LGBT+ was a "sin" and that transgender people were "just confused".  On its own that case is clear but if preachers in mosques can lecture their congregations on their being obedient to their religion by espousing the establishment of sharia in UK,  the encouragement of antipathy to the other monotheist religions and the heresy of some legal relationships there is a wilful gap in the mindset of those charged with that discredited concept of all being equal before the law.  

A fine example of how the tail of prison overcrowding is wagging the dog of justice is exemplified by the case of this drunk driver.  How can law abiding people have any confidence in our legal system with such sentencing aberration?  

Public space protection orders (PSPO) give the police wide discretionary powers to deal with a nuisance or problem that harms the local community's quality of life.  They are aimed at ensuring public spaces can be enjoyed free from anti-social behaviour.  It seems that in Cleethorpes walking a dog on the beach breaches such an order as this dog walker discovered.  I am not a dog owner but I recollect walking on the beach at Weston Super Mare a couple of years ago and feeling the canine happiness as dozens of dog owners played with, walked and occasionally chased their pets almost to exhaustion.  

To conclude this week a further example of why magistrates should, as many broadcasters do, operate a five second delay on anything they might say in the court, in the court building, and/or to any colleague or court employee, defendant, witness, legal representative or delivery van driver.  Anything you say will be taken down and might be used in evidence of misconduct as was the case with Mr Michael Berry JP. Perhaps he would have been better off going no comment.

THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS, YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW AND TIME WILL TELL

Are we ruled by government or lawyers?  For those with a passing interest in government viewing the scene from the top of that proverbial Clapham omnibus  that question in one form or another has been a feature of leader writers and opinion formers for some months.  The riots last July subsequent to the awful murders in Southport were a likely starting point for the topic to break into public discourse.  However the increasingly obstructive antics of fanatical supporters of some ecological cause or another have affected many British hearts and minds.  My enlarged prostate did not take kindly to being held up for two hours on the M25 not by highwaymen but by climate protesters a couple of years ago.   The recent jail sentences for sixteen environmental activists [a few reduced on appeal] caused an uproar by some "progressive" lawyers and others insofar as they considered that the end  i.e.  the planet`s welfare, justified the means. 

Indeed some commenters have suggested that the cases of non-violent disruptive protesters should be governed by what they call “the integrity principle”. This would spur a radical rethink of how the courts approach the trials of such protesters.  This is a dangerous path to take and for lawyers a deliberate attempt to allow politics to be a factor in determining guilt and/or sentence.  If this advice were to be followed where would it end?  I would suggest its end of the road would be confirmation of the end of our democratic tradition where equality before the law is still just about hanging on if rather precariously. The Guardian, that most woke of publications, offers an insight into the minds of those who consider means justify ends.  

Considering the title of this blog I would opine that many readers will have been aware that the numbers of magistrates courts is now about half the number of 15 years ago and consequently the numbers of Justices of the Peace until recently declined in tandem.  As with police numbers many current magistrates are relative newbies with fewer old timers around to offer advice and direction.  The latest advertising recruitment splurge of which this is an example emphasises the benefits to an employer for allowing a staff member to apply and be accepted as a magistrate with some emphasis that this will be beneficial to that successful applicant insofar as being on the bench will offer advantages to employees in rising up the employment ladder.  In simple terms the advertisement  is geared to showing an applicant that being a magistrate is primarily a selfish voluntary act to propel his/her own ambitions in business or profession.  When I applied in the 1990s I found that most of my new colleagues had become magistrates for the position itself and what they could offer with no consideration of how that position might enhance their life outside court in their chosen occupations. There were of course a few exceptions and the crucial point is that most of the bench saw those self seekers for what they were; arrogant aggrandising individuals who were less able than the vast majority.   

As the old adages say, the end justifies the means; you reap what you sow; and time will tell. 

CONSISTENTLY UNDER UTILISED

 

BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND DEEP BLUE SEA

From being a socialist orientated student to a conservative who believes that capitalism must be controlled there comes a time when the inevitable choice arises between government and the law.  Before the dreadful day of 7th October 2023 the people of Israel faced that very dilemma.  It is a problem there still to be solved.  At grassroots that is the situation currently with the Sentencing Council at loggerheads with the Justice Secretary.  Government makes the law which includes a range of sentences for every offence.  As can be noted from recent events maximum sentences for what many consider the most heinous offending seem to be in short supply at the top end and rarely applied at the lower, eg shoplifting, car theft or burglary where perhaps the reluctance of police to investigate is much of the problem. 

Two tier policing became the catchphrase for the ineptitude of initially the Metropolitan Police in allowing public support for a proscribed terrorist organisation and breaches of the Public Order Act to go unpunished for over a year yet simultaneously being over officious in clamping down hard on non violent suspected hate crime.  

Two tier sentencing has been the phrase now employed to describe the Sentencing Council`s intention to rectify a problem others say does not exist.  The controversy centres around supposedly different criteria for those facing custody from the crown court depending on their ethnic, religious or cultural minority status.  Even disclosure of being transgender is included as "cultural minority".   The chairman of the council, Lord Justice William Davis, has stated that guidance must not be dictated to judges by ministers.  A leading solicitor has written publicly that those from "ethnic minorities" are more likely to be arrested, charged and convicted than white people; a rather non legalistic comment when one considers eg white skinned Muslims,  Jews [Ashkenazi white or Sephardic sometimes brown skinned] or people of Chinese origin.  The argument centres around the eligibility and of uptake of pre sentence reports where custody is an option.  The differentials are put down to racism.  As I was led to understand as a magistrate, sentencing guidelines were just that; guidelines and not tramlines.  Section 59 of the Sentencing Act 2000 directs all courts to follow the guidelines but not to do so if "it would be contrary to the interests of justice".  I have personally followed that route in court but of course fewer that 4% of offenders at the lower court receive immediate custodial sentences.  

The Sentencing Council with the apparent approval of the previous government announced that from April 1st there should be certainty that pre sentence reports be made for the aforementioned minorities. Those supporting this proposed policy seem to be from the cupboard of the "progressive usual suspects".  On the other hand pragmatists as I like to consider myself,  seek to understand and formulate a conclusion to a situation or problem  whilst "progressives" have a pre determined mindset which they apply to such situations.   In 2022 statistics showed that "Asian and black offenders were 6% and 4% more likely to be sentenced to immediate custody in comparison with white offenders".  But also the facts were that in crown courts over the previous five years white defendants consistently pleaded guilty [68%-77%] thus obtaining sentence reductions up to one third cf black ethnic groups [58%].  

For every pre sentence report a probation officer must be available for its being obtained and presented.  The staff statistics are not rosy as seen below considering the rise in the prison population: cause or effect?

Not all countries have sentencing guidelines.  This paper from America might be of interest.  It was 1999 that the state of Michigan initiated the American idea of sentencing guidelines and it was from that origin that similar guidelines developed in the British nations.  I have no doubt that with AI so far advanced that it`s only a matter of a few years until the sentencing process itself will be AI driven with human input as a failsafe.  

The bottom line on the current situation and future similar divergencies is that there will be a time when the choice is to be ruled by government or by lawyers; the devil or the deep blue sea some might say. 

JUST ANOTHER DAY