by TheJusticeofthePeace @ 30.
Oct. 2010. – 11:50:42
I`ve commented here many times on matters emanating from Crown Courts but rarely on reports from the High Court for the obvious reason that cases there are usually unconcerned with the run of the mill events orientated around magistrates` courts eg cases involving dog bites and similar. Earlier this week, however, both a Crown Court and a High Court report involve disposals well known to those of us who occupy the bench at the lower court…..fixed penalty notice [FPN] and caution.
At Preston Crown Court His Honour Judge Anthony Russell QC commented that a FPN given to defendant and amateur boxer Jonathan Toomey six months previously for a public order offence involving a pub fight prior to the realisation of the seriousness of the assault persuaded him that immediate custody was inappropriate and his twenty four week sentence for assault occasioning grievous bodily harm was suspended for 24 months. The full report is available here. Those who regularly practise at crown court might have their own observations on that sentence.
In the High Court an appeal against a caution under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 was dismissed. To this non lawyer it seems unusual that this matter was allowed to get so far. Simple cautions are or should be administered only after guilt has been admitted. Normally if an individual refuses to admit guilt a charge would be laid by CPS in conjunction with police and the case would be settled at trial. We do not know more than the very basic facts of this case but in a perverse way it demonstrates that perceived injustice can be taken to the highest levels of jurisprudence by anybody who has the perseverance and the cash so to do.
Having been a jogger with many instances of having various parts of my body scratched from ankle to shoulder by dogs varying in size from tiny terriers to a St Bernard [stood up and laid its paws on my shoulders as it looked down at me] whose owner in her defence remarked, “He`s only my pet puppy.” and I kid you not I replied, “He might be only a puppy to you but he`s a terrifying ten stone animal to me.”…. I can only add that all dogs should be muzzled in public……just like some bloggers perhaps.
At Preston Crown Court His Honour Judge Anthony Russell QC commented that a FPN given to defendant and amateur boxer Jonathan Toomey six months previously for a public order offence involving a pub fight prior to the realisation of the seriousness of the assault persuaded him that immediate custody was inappropriate and his twenty four week sentence for assault occasioning grievous bodily harm was suspended for 24 months. The full report is available here. Those who regularly practise at crown court might have their own observations on that sentence.
In the High Court an appeal against a caution under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 was dismissed. To this non lawyer it seems unusual that this matter was allowed to get so far. Simple cautions are or should be administered only after guilt has been admitted. Normally if an individual refuses to admit guilt a charge would be laid by CPS in conjunction with police and the case would be settled at trial. We do not know more than the very basic facts of this case but in a perverse way it demonstrates that perceived injustice can be taken to the highest levels of jurisprudence by anybody who has the perseverance and the cash so to do.
Having been a jogger with many instances of having various parts of my body scratched from ankle to shoulder by dogs varying in size from tiny terriers to a St Bernard [stood up and laid its paws on my shoulders as it looked down at me] whose owner in her defence remarked, “He`s only my pet puppy.” and I kid you not I replied, “He might be only a puppy to you but he`s a terrifying ten stone animal to me.”…. I can only add that all dogs should be muzzled in public……just like some bloggers perhaps.
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