St Albans rape trial jury made to wait due to staff shortage
Judge Bilal Siddique was overseeing the trial of a man accused of raping two women he had relationships with when a Metropolitan Police officer.Jake Cummings, 26, who lived in Lytton Way, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, had denied rape and said sex was consensual.The judge was ready to ask the jury to retire to consider verdicts at around 1100 BST on 16 July.But no court clerk was available to record administrative detail, including the time jurors retired.
The judge asked the jury to retire at around 1400 BST, after a clerk became available.Jurors returned with one guilty verdict shortly after 1600 BST - and were then sent home for the night.They returned with a second guilty verdict on the morning of 17 July.Cummings is due to be sentenced on 22 September."We had an unusual level of staff sickness on 16 July, which led to a delay in one case," said an HMCTS spokeswoman."While this was an isolated incident, we are taking steps to strengthen staffing levels to ensure we have sufficient cover in similar situations."
Bar Council chair Barbara Mills KC said cuts meant the criminal justice system was not serving the people it was meant to protect."The result of decades of underfunding, cuts across every single aspect of the criminal justice system, meaning there's not enough clerks, magistrates, probation staff… the list goes on," she said."There is no getting away from the fact that the entire sector must be sufficiently resourced to function effectively and as well as we know it can."She added: "Currently, the impact on victims, witnesses and defendants is detrimental – criminal justice in England and Wales is not serving those it's meant to protect."
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BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
St Albans rape trial jury made to wait due to staff shortage
A leading barrister has raised concerns after a judge overseeing a double rape trial had to delay asking a jury to consider verdicts because of a shortage of court government agency which oversees the administration of courts said what happened at St Albans Court Court on 16 July was an "isolated incident".A spokesman for HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) said steps were being taken to "strengthen staffing levels".But the leader of the Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, said underfunding meant courts did not have enough people. Judge Bilal Siddique was overseeing the trial of a man accused of raping two women he had relationships with when a Metropolitan Police Cummings, 26, who lived in Lytton Way, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, had denied rape and said sex was judge was ready to ask the jury to retire to consider verdicts at around 1100 BST on 16 no court clerk was available to record administrative detail, including the time jurors retired. The judge asked the jury to retire at around 1400 BST, after a clerk became returned with one guilty verdict shortly after 1600 BST - and were then sent home for the returned with a second guilty verdict on the morning of 17 is due to be sentenced on 22 September."We had an unusual level of staff sickness on 16 July, which led to a delay in one case," said an HMCTS spokeswoman."While this was an isolated incident, we are taking steps to strengthen staffing levels to ensure we have sufficient cover in similar situations." Bar Council chair Barbara Mills KC said cuts meant the criminal justice system was not serving the people it was meant to protect."The result of decades of underfunding, cuts across every single aspect of the criminal justice system, meaning there's not enough clerks, magistrates, probation staff… the list goes on," she said."There is no getting away from the fact that the entire sector must be sufficiently resourced to function effectively and as well as we know it can."She added: "Currently, the impact on victims, witnesses and defendants is detrimental – criminal justice in England and Wales is not serving those it's meant to protect." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Two hours of terror in a New York skyscraper
For hundreds of employees at 345 Park Avenue, an iconic 44-story skyscraper in the heart of Midtown Manhattan - a neighbourhood packed with offices of major corporations - Monday evening suddenly became like no commuters made their way home on the sweltering July evening, workers at the Park Avenue tower ran for their lives, barricading conference rooms with tables and sending loved ones pre-emptive goodbye messages."I texted my parents, 'I love them,'" Jessica Chen, who works on the second floor, told US media. "Nothing can describe that feeling."Ms Chen and others in the skyscraper were spurred to action by the unexpected sound of gunshots coming from the gunfire would kill four people, including a New York police officer, as well as others in the lobby and on the 33rd floor. One man remains in critical condition in hospital. A man 'sprays' gunfire in a busy Manhattan neighbourhood Just moments before the chaos, at around 18:30 EST (23:30 BST), a 27-year-old drove into one of the busiest areas in Manhattan, completing a cross-country car ride through the states of Colorado, Nebraska and say Shane Tamura, of Las Vegas, double-parked his black BMW on Park Avenue - just blocks from tourist destinations Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's a jacket, a button-down shirt and sunglasses, he wielded an assault-style rifle with his right arm, marching with determination toward the skyscraper where he knew the National Football League (NFL) was he would never make it to that as he reached the doors of 345 Park, which stretches an entire New York City block, he began "spraying" the lobby with gunfire, according to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica first, Tamura walked right past a stationed officer. But then he turned to the right, saw him and fired, killing 36-year-old New York police officer Didarul Islam, who leaves behind two children and a pregnant wife, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said."He was slain in the entryway to the right as soon as he entered the building," Adams wasted little time before firing at another woman taking cover behind a pillar, making his way through the lobby and continuing to shoot, authorities say. Wesley LePatner, who worked upstairs at financial firm Blackstone, was killed."Our prayers are with her husband, children and family," the company NFL employee was "seriously injured" in the attack, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote to staff. Craig Clementi, who worked in the finance department, was on his way home when he was shot, his father-in-law Robert Hunter told the New York Daily News. He is now recovering from surgery. A mistaken elevator ride As the gunfire continued to ring out, another security guard tried in vain to activate an alarm system to disable the elevators, potentially preventing more carnage. But the guard, Aland Etienne, was "assassinated" as he took cover behind the counter, Adams said. After that, the gunman headed to an elevator. As he waited for the lift, a woman emerged and somehow was allowed to exit unscathed, police said. But the lift he boarded would not take him where he intended. He had gone to the wrong elevator bank and arrived, not at the NFL offices, but at the 33rd floor offices of the real-estate company that owned the building, Rudin Management. Frantic emails and a run for help As chaos unfolded in the lobby, employees in the building sent frantic messages over email and Microsoft Teams that there was a shooter downstairs, a Blackstone worker told the Wall Street Chen told ABC News that she was watching a presentation on the second floor of the skyscraper with about 150 other people when they heard the first shots."Some went out in the back door, out onto the street," she said. "Other people, including me, we ran into the conference room."A photo circulating on social media appears to show Blackstone employees piling couches, desks and other furniture in front of a door in a in the NFL offices, meanwhile, received messages from the league warning them of gunfire, according to ESPN. Told to switch their phones to silent and hide until law enforcement arrived, they waited for a shooter who would never make it to his the plaza outside the Park Avenue tower, law enforcement flooded the Lewis could hear the sounds of rapid gunfire from inside the skyscraper, while seated nearby with a friend. She could see the gunman through the glass, she told NBC she knew it, someone ran from the building "really hard" toward them and began crying out for help, saying he'd been shot, Ms Lewis said."Because of how strongly he was running, I couldn't believe it. He had what looked like … an exit wound in the back."She joined others, taking cover behind a wall. As they waited, dozens of workers gradually rushed from the building holding their hands above their heads as they evacuated. 'Study my brain please' Meanwhile, inside, Tamura was roaming the 33rd floor, firing rounds "as he traveled", Ms Tisch said. He shot and killed his last authorities said, he walked down a hallway and shot himself in the used an AR-15-style rifle he had assembled with a lower receiver - or gun frame - that an associate purchased for him. With teams in two states, investigators are still working to trace Mr Tamura's trip from Las Vegas to New York City. A rambling three-page note was found on his gunman wrote he was suffering from CTE, a brain disease triggered by head injuries like those suffered in military combat and contact sports like American who played football as a teenager - though not professionally, according to friends - "seemed to have blamed the NFL", Mayor Adams said."Study my brain. I'm sorry," the note said.
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Newhaven explosives investigation ongoing, police say
Police investigations remain ongoing after two decommissioned grenades were found at a property in East involving Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EDO) teams continued in Newfield Road, Newhaven, on Tuesday after the devices were discovered last week, prompting an evacuation of the discovery was made following the arrest of a 54-year-old man on suspicion of burglary on Police said there was "no risk to the public". The road was closed from 18:00 BST on Monday to allow police to "carry out searches safely" and make space for specialist equipment, a police spokesperson Allan, 36, lives on the road and told the BBC that the mood on the neighbourhood group chat was one of "concern" and locals "didn't really know what is going on"."I've got three children and we've been staying with my mum and dad, but my youngest is quite distressed and doesn't understand what is happening." A rest centre which had been set up by Lewes District Council was no longer required, the authority said, but it "remained on standby".Police previously said there was "nothing to suggest" the incident is terror-related and reiterated its thanks to the local community for its understanding and cooperation.
