Latest news with #DistrictJudge
BBC News
15 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Jodie Marsh wins lemur fight against Uttlesford District Council
Jodie Marsh should be allowed to keep lemurs at her private animal sanctuary, a judge has former glamour model fought Uttlesford District Council in court after it refused her application for a wild animal licence in July had been raised about her taking a meerkat from her farm near Braintree, Essex, to the pub, but Ms Marsh insisted she was being targeted by online Judge Christopher Williams said the 46-year-old was "someone who very much cares for animals". He ordered the local authority to pay her £19,641 in costs at Chelmsford Magistrates' of Fripps Farm, which Ms Marsh founded in Lindsell in 2020, attended several hearings to voice their opposition against Williams said there was "considerable animosity" between all Marsh, who appeared in the ITV series Essex Wives in 2002, took the council to court after it did not allow her to adopt eight ring-tailed already cared for alpacas, emus and reptiles at the 4.5-acre (1.8ha) site and wept in court as the judge ruled in her favour. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Telegraph
17 hours ago
- General
- Telegraph
Blasphemy laws against Islam are here, but nobody in Westminster will admit it
Last November, the social justice activist Titania McGrath tweeted that 'the assassination attempt against Donald Trump proves irrefutably that he is guilty of inciting violence'. Most people would have instantly understood this remark to be satirical, yet the judge in a much-publicised court case this week appears to have adopted Titania's logic with chilling precision. On Monday, Hamit Coskun was convicted of a public order offence for burning his own copy of the Quran in a peaceful protest outside the Turkish consulate. He was interrupted when an angry member of the public slashed at him with a knife and a passing delivery man kicked him while he lay on the floor. Channelling Titania in his ruling, District Judge John McGarva claimed that Coskun's conduct was proven to be disorderly 'by the fact that it led to serious public disorder involving him being assaulted by two different people'. While reading the judgment in this case, those of us who still care about free speech will hear multiple alarm bells clanging all at once. Leaving aside the sinister suggestion that a victim of violence is to blame for being attacked, the judge also stated that 'the defendant positioned himself outside the Turkish embassy, a place where he must have known there would be Muslims'. Given that Coskun had said that his protest was against 'the Islamist Government of Erdogan who has made Turkey a base for radical Islamists and is trying to establish a Sharia regime', it is difficult to imagine a more suitable location. Coskun's alleged crime is 'disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress', motivated by 'hostility towards members of a religious group, namely followers of Islam'. That his style of protest had the potential to cause offence is beyond doubt, with his cries of 'Quran is burning' and 'f--- Islam'. But if provocative language is now illega l, then one wonders how the major protests we've seen on the streets of London this year haven't all culminated in mass arrests. We need to be honest about what this conviction represents: blasphemy law by the back door. The creed of multiculturalism is a keystone of the intersectional ideology that has infected so many of our major institutions. The police and the judiciary are far from immune, which is presumably why, in the absence of authentic blasphemy codes, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had attempted to invent one of its own. The CPS had originally charged Coskun with intent to cause 'harassment, alarm or distress' against 'the religious institution of Islam'. It was eventually forced to change the wording to comply with the law. This is a standard symptom of ideological capture. The trans charity Stonewall, for instance, has been found to have misrepresented the Equality Act as it 'would prefer it to be, rather than the law as it is'. The College of Policing – the body responsible for the training of officers in England and Wales – has ignored demands from successive home secretaries to stop the recording of 'non-crime hate incidents', and has even shirked a ruling from the High Court that found the practice to be a clear infringement on free speech. The problems of two-tier justice and the ongoing state encroachment on free speech will not disappear until we tackle the two major sources of the problem. The first is the ideological bias that has become embedded in the police and the CPS. The second is the various 'hate speech' laws on the statue books that no government has yet had the courage to repeal. Why are people still being prosecuted for 'grossly offensive' comments, when such a notion is hopelessly subjective and impossible to define? Why are there proscriptions against the causing of 'alarm' or 'distress', when these are inevitable aspects of life? Why, for that matter, is 'hate' considered illegal at all? The state is seemingly under the delusion that it can legislate away our hardwired human emotions. Ultimately, no citizen should be arrested for a peaceful protest in which they burn their own book. That it was a copy of the Quran should be beside the point. In a free society, no belief-system should be exempt from criticism, ridicule and, yes, hatred. The spread of ideology through our public institutions, and the ongoing failure of our politicians to acknowledge that it is happening at all, has meant that the principle of equality under the law is now subordinated to group identity and the risk of causing offence. For those of us who still believe in freedom, this situation is no longer tolerable.
The Sun
3 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Machete-wielding teen who sparked massive police hunt when he cut off electronic tag while on bail is spared jail
A TEENAGER who sparked a massive police hunt after absconding on bail and cutting off his electronic tag has been spared custody again. Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley last week raised his concerns over the 16-year-old boy's case. 2 He said massive resources had been used to track down the teenager — 'involved in machete attacks' — with a history of being arrested for firearms and zombie knives. Sir Mark told BBC Radio 4: 'We sought his remand in custody. Even under the current system he was eventually bailed. He skipped his bail on his tag and we've put massive resources into chasing him. 'He's been caught with another machete again.' But we can reveal the boy is now back on the streets after being captured in Eltham, South East London, on Tuesday. He was held on suspicion of attempted murder, possessing a machete and cannabis. He had also cut off his electronic tag. The lad, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Bromley youth court on Thursday over the machete and drugs. Prosecutors called for him to be remanded. But District Judge Vanessa Lloyd said: 'Custody for young people must be a last resort.' She technically refused bail, but remanded him to local authority accommodation with an 8pm to 7am curfew — and ordered he wear a tag. Cops are probing the attempted murder allegation. 2
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
5 days ago
- Business Standard
Ankita Bhandari murder case: Court give life imprisonment to three accused
A court of Additional District Judge (ADJ) in Uttarakhand's Pauri district on Friday sentenced three accused to life imprisonment in the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case. Ankita Bhandari (19) worked at Vanantra Resort, in Yamkeshwar of Pauri district, as a receptionist. She was murdered by the resort owner, Pulkit Arya (the son of now expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya), and two of his employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, on September 18, 2022, news agency PTI reported. The three were convicted under multiple sections, including Section 302 (murder), Section 201 (destruction of evidence), Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), Section 354A (sexual harassment), and provisions of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act. Reports suggest that Ankita was pushed into the barrage by the resort owner and his two employees. Bhandari was reported missing for at least six days before her body was recovered on September 24 from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh. The incident triggered protests by locals seeking justice for the 19-year-old victim. Following the intensified protests, the Uttarakhand government formed a special investigation team to probe the murder. Parts of the resort where Ankita worked were also demolished in an order passed by the authorities, alleging some structures were constructed illegally. Investigation revealed that Bhandari and Arya, the main accused, had a dispute over something, following which the three accused pushed her into a barrage. Speaking to ANI, the victim's mother urged the people of Uttarakhand to support their family in seeking capital punishment for those accused in the case. She said, 'May the criminals be sentenced to death...I appeal to the public of Uttarakhand to keep on supporting us and come to the Kotdwar court to boost our morale.' The hearing of the case began in January 2023 in the ADJ court in Kotdwar. The prosecution filed a 500-page chargesheet in the court. In a trial that lasted nearly two years, the court examined 47 witnesses out of the 97 witnesses listed. (With agency inputs)
The Independent
5 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Alleged Liverpool parade crash driver appears in court
The alleged driver of a car that ploughed into a crowd at Liverpool's Premier League victory parade has appeared in court. Paul Doyle, 53, appeared at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Friday morning charged with seven offences following the incident on Water Street in the city centre on Monday, which resulted in 79 people suffering injuries. The father-of-three, of Croxteth, Liverpool, was remanded in custody to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday afternoon. Doyle, wearing a black suit, white shirt and grey tie, looked emotional as he was brought in from the cells and looked around at the dozens of reporters packing the courtroom, his face crumpling slightly as he held back tears. District Judge Paul Healey asked the defendant to identify himself and in a croaky voice, Doyle confirmed his name and gave his date of birth and address in Liverpool. At one point, Doyle shook his head as Philip Astbury, prosecuting, was speaking. He is accused of two counts of wounding with intent, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of dangerous driving. The charges relate to six victims, including two children. Reporting restrictions preventing the victims from being identified were made by the judge. Doyle made no indications of pleas after the charges were read to the court. He stood with his hands clasped and nodded as he was remanded in custody. On Thursday, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the charges against Doyle, who is reportedly an ex-Royal Marine, would be kept 'under review as the investigation progresses'. Chief crown prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, Sarah Hammond, said: 'The investigation is at an early stage. Prosecutors and police are continuing to work at pace to review a huge volume of evidence. 'This includes multiple pieces of video footage and numerous witness statements. 'It is important to ensure every victim gets the justice they deserve.' The ages of those injured ranges from nine to 78 and seven people remained in hospital on Thursday, police said. Police previously said they believed the car that struck pedestrians was able to follow an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack after a road block during Liverpool FC's celebrations was temporarily lifted.
