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Bhatia Best would like to congratulate Alexis Vandyke-Mercer on becoming a fully-accredited Police Station Representative. Alexis is a Criminal Defence paralegal in our busy Nottingham Office. Having previously undertaken her placement year as a Law student with the firm, Alexis returned after completing her Legal Practice Course and quickly set about becoming an accredited Police Station representative. The Accreditation process has two parts; the submission of a detailed written portfolio of cases and then a practical Critical Incidents Test. Alexis passed both of these elements first time round and is now fully-accredited. This means that Alexis has demonstrated such capability, knowledge and experience that she is able to represent any individual at the Police Station, regardless of the case.  ...

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Richard Posner, a partner and a senior Higher Rights Court Advocate based at our Nottingham office appeared on BBC Radio Nottingham this morning (24th January 2018) to discuss the legality of performing a citizen's arrest. You can listen to Richard's interview below or hear the whole show on the BBC website by clicking here.

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Thirteen people have been convicted after an inquiry into abuse at two care homes for adults with learning disabilities. Residents at Vielstone near Bideford, in Devon, were routinely punished by being held in empty rooms without food, heating or a toilet, a court heard. Staff left vulnerable residents in the rooms, often overnight, during 2010 and 2011 as an abusive culture developed. Manager Jolyon Marshall was jailed for 28 months. He was jailed for conspiracy to falsely imprison and perverting the course of justice. Twelve other people, including other staff members and Marshall's wife, were convicted of the "organised and systemic abuse" of disabled residents after a series of trials at Bristol Crown Court. More on the punishment room trials...

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A man whose murder conviction was quashed by the Supreme Court in a landmark ruling on joint enterprise has been convicted of manslaughter. Ameen Jogee "egged on" Mohammed Hirsi to stab former policeman Paul Fyfe after an argument. In 2012, both were jailed for murder but the Supreme Court ruled the joint enterprise law had been wrongly interpreted for 30 years. At a retrial Jogee was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter. During the two-week retrial at Nottingham Crown Court, the jury heard Hirsi, then 25, knifed Mr Fyfe through the heart in June 2011. More on this and other stories in Leicestershire The prosecution said Jogee, 27, stood on the doorstep of the house, encouraging his friend to...

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More than 200 people have been prosecuted under a new revenge porn law, a Crown Prosecution Service report on crimes against women shows. Data for England and Wales also show rape, domestic abuse and sex offences account for almost a fifth of the total CPS workload, with prosecutions and convictions at record levels. The CPS says improvements are due to extra resources and better training. But charities say more needs to be done to encourage reporting of offences. The CPS's annual Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) report, which incorporates data on men and boys, has been conducted since 2007. It became an offence to share private sexual photographs or films without the subject's consent in England and Wales in...

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We would like to congratulate Tom Oates on becoming a partner at Bhatia Best on 1st August 2016. Tom runs our Mansfield Criminal Department and is an exceptional criminal practitioner. Mansfield born and bred, Tom brings a wealth of expertise to our Mansfield office and has very quickly built up a significant criminal following. On becoming a partner, Tom said "I am delighted to achieve this significant milestone and I recognise that this position brings with it a new and exciting challenge in a very difficult economic market." Never to miss a trick, Tom would like to point out that being located in an office next to the court affords him the opportunity of taking Agency instructions at short notice. Contact Tom (01623) 427 944 should...

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68% of complaints upheld The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has published its annual complaint statistics for local authorities for the 12 months to 31st March 2016. Overall there were 19,702 complaints and enquiries, and 4,464 detailed investigations of which 51% of complaints were upheld. The review breaks down complaints according to individual service areas. For Education and Children's Services collectively complaints and enquiries were up by 13% to 3,438. 53% of those cases investigated were upheld. In respect of children's services, in particular, the review comments on child protection, children's statutory complaints procedure and child sexual exploitation. There were 903 registered complaints and enquiries concerning child protection. Where investigations were completed, 68% of cases resulted in complaints being upheld. This...

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