Skip to content

Criminal Defence

Judge sitting at desk

Existing Sentencing Guidelines

Over the past fifteen years or so, a number of ‘guideline’ judgments have been delivered by the courts to assist with formulating the appropriate sentence for a given offence type. This article looks at the origin of those guidelines, the offences for which there are guidelines available, and what the individual guidelines provide.

Barrister in Court

Lies, Unsafe Convictions, and Closing Speeches

In sexual misconduct cases one is often faced with a classic ‘swearing match’ – where one person (the complainant) gives evidence that the misconduct happened, and one other person (the accused) says that it did not. I am often thereby reminded of the case of Hannon (facts below) and often wish I could bring that case to the attention of the jury. May I, properly, do so?

Court of Appeal Sentencing Database

The Judicial Council has published a database of Court of Appeal decisions from 2014 to 2023, but in a format that is a little difficult to interrogate. I’ve taken the data and made it available here in a format that makes it easier to search and analyse.

Sam Bankman-Fried

United States -v- Bankman-Fried

I’ve been following the FTX Trial in New York and it has made for interesting (if sometimes cringeworthy) reading. There are numerous ways to follow the trial, and to learn more about the background, and I’ve collected some of those sources here together with some background information.