All articles by James Morton – Page 8
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News20,000 hang on words of killer
Murderer of the 4th Duke of Bedford was hanged outside Newgate Prison
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NewsPardon for lord with axe to grind
A plaque in Lincoln’s Inn Fields remembers Lord William Russell, acknowledging a pardon that came a little too late.
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NewsA bold entry to English courts
Joshua Rozenberg’s article on the Diplock courts (1 October) reminded me of the first case in which Richard Ferguson QC appeared in England.
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NewsTroublemakers in rude health
Home secretary Sajid Javid has had something of a whizz of an idea. In future, violence will be treated as a disease.
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NewsIdentity politics in the courtroom
Client dons a ginger wig to ‘test’ a witness’s identification.
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NewsCriminal justice under the cosh
I was at a conference held by the University of York on ‘Imagining the Impossible’ recently when someone in the audience asked how long it would be before the criminal justice system broke down.
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NewsCautionary tale from Gold Coast
Family and migration lawyer Gisele Reid of Nyst Lawyers on Australia’s Gold Coast has sent me a cautionary tale.
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NewsSolicitors and salutations
The letter in the Gazette fulminating about the archaic practice of beginning letters ‘Dear Sir’ is absolutely right (21 May). As we approach the end of the second decade of the 21st century it is catering to a patriarchal society: it is a practice that is outmoded and should be ...
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NewsFrom defender to fraudster
Edmund O’Connor, an Irish solicitor of 100 years ago, appeared for William Podmore at the 1928 inquest on Vivian Messiter. James Morton His client, alleged to have moved Messiter’s body, was only 5’ 3”, and the deceased a much bigger man. O’Connor persuaded the pathologist to try ...
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NewsMeaning of the Worboys affair
The John Worboys affair throws up more questions than it answers. Is the case being hijacked by moral entrepreneurs and used to have sentences for rape increased? And will it open the floodgates for what amount to appeals by victims against Parole Board decisions? How will these be funded? Legal ...
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NewsPrivacy and past crimes
James Morton People seeking privacy over past misdemeanours are following an old tradition. Ninety years ago Sergeant Sullivan, opening a libel action by Francis Alfonso Smith, asked the jury to say that there was too much revival of matter which ‘Mr Smith might hope was buried’. ...
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NewsSmooth as Silk? Not quite...
The old dictum ‘You may have your choice of counsel but not the counsel of your choice’ seems to have cropped up recently in the Northern Ireland case over whether a defendant had to have a silk represent him. The question whether a good junior is better than a poor ...
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NewsThe art of the perfect con
The Financial Conduct Authority has been broadcasting radio advertisements warning against scams. The listener is told to choose between Pitch A and Pitch B and decide which is the con. Personally, I thought they both sound like scams. Curiously, and quite by chance, I recently came ...
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NewsEvidence? Then spill the beans
The quarrel over non-disclosure, particularly in rape cases, rumbles on. I see that austerity is now being blamed for the failure of the police and Crown Prosecution Service to realise that, in some cases, complainants are not being wholly frank. I also see a suggestion that bobbies are to be ...
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NewsName game to blame for crime
James Morton ponders the link between names and criminal behaviour.
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NewsTough questions over hard cases
The very disparate cases of John Worboys, Jon Venables and Ben Stokes (pictured) highlight some of the topical problems of the criminal justice process. James Morton Taking Stokes’ case first, last week the England cricketer was charged with affray over an alleged incident outside a nightclub in ...
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NewsHow lit funders fought rail giant
Litigation funding is nothing new. At one time it was known as maintenance and champerty, and was a felony designed to stop robber barons hijacking litigation for their own ends. But 130 years ago the public rallied to help fight the barons in the form of the railway – and ...
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NewsJury out on no-show excuses
I forget who it was who asked, ‘Who would want to be tried by 12 people who were so stupid they could not get off a jury?’. They have a point. There again – forget all that rubbish about civic duty – who would want to be tried by 12 ...