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Monthly Archives: February 2025

Sam Kerr was prosecuted for an offence of racially aggravated intentional disorderly conduct. The case concerned her behaviour towards a police officer on 30th January 2023 at the Twickenham Police Station. Miss Kerr was acquitted by the jury after a lengthy trial.
The case raises a number of issues.  The first concerns the question of false arrest and a person’s right to escape from a false arrest that could even be considered a kidnapping.
Sam Kerr had been out with her fiancée to a few pubs and cocktail bars. After she felt ill, she called a cab and asked to be driven home. She was then sick out of the window of the cab. This led to the taxi driver requiring her to pay a fee even though the vomit was on the outside of the car. When Miss Kerr refused to pay, the taxi driver called the police who remarkably advised the driver to drive the two women to the police station.

False Imprisonment

It was clearly bad advice from the police. A taxi driver cannot simply drive his passengers to any place without their consent. In some limited circumstances, a member of the public can carry out a ‘citizen’s arrest’ in which case the best advice is to detain a person until a police officer arrives. In this case the taxi driver did not even purport to carry out an arrest. He had no right to take his passengers to the police station.
Even though it sounds counter intuitive, the passengers were justified in breaking a taxi window to try to escape. As such, there was no charge of criminal damage.

“Stupid and white”

The police arrived and apparently took the side of the taxi driver. The passengers tried to explain their behaviour. They mentioned the case of Sarah Everard who had been wrongly arrested by PC Wayne Cousins and then murdered. They explained to the police officer that they had called the police themselves and tried to explain what had happened, but the operator had hung up on them. The officer told them that this would not have happened. In the argument it is accepted that Sam Kerr swore at the officer and said that he was “stupid and white”.
Sam Kerr was charged with a racially aggravated offence. Broadly this means that at the time of committing the basic offence the person demonstrates towards the victim hostility based on the victim’s membership or presumed membership of a racial group – in this case the white race.
There may be a perception that racism in the UK is directed towards Asian, Black and other ethnically diverse people. Some people would be surprised that white people can be the victims of such an offence.  A large number of cases are brought where the victim is white, however.  These cases are often where the victim is a white police officer.

Were the police really distressed?

The underlying offence in Sam Kerr’s case involves using threatening, abusive or insulting words with the intent to cause a person harassment, alarm or distress. In this case the words used were accepted.  She argued that the officer had been treating her in a patronising fashion and not understanding her position as a woman and a person of colour. She argued that the words whilst regrettable were not so insulting that a police officer would be caused any real distress by them.
There are cases that have been heard before where the High Court has considered that a trained and experienced police officer will often not be caused genuine distress by words or phrases with which he will, by dint of repetition, “be wearily familiar”.
In the event, although Sam Kerr was acquitted, the Judge made comments about her having brought the case on herself.
sam kerrThe lessons of the case are that when one is speaking to the police it is essential to mind your exact words. If you are a taxi driver, the best advice is to call the police and wait for them to arrive rather than taking your passengers to the police station.
All people should be careful not to use racist or offensive words in all circumstances not just for social and political reasons, but also to avoid having brushes with the law.

Contact one of our expert criminal lawyers

If you find yourself in Sam Kerr’s position you will want to seek expert legal advice.  Our solicitors are able to advise you in relation to any aspect of racially aggravated allegations.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are facing an investigation or prosecution.

Advice and representation in a police interview under caution will always be free of charge to you.

Legal Aid will often be available to defend court proceedings.

We have offices across the East Midlands.

Contact your nearest office here. 

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Monthly Archives: February 2025

A new Crime and Policing Bill is due before Parliament for the first time on 25 February 2025.    The Government claim that “the new bill will help tackle the crimes that matter most to communities but have been ignored for too long.”  

police and crime billThe governments sets out the background to the measures – “the year ending September 2024, police recorded one million incidents of antisocial behaviour. In the same period, they recorded over 490,000 shop theft offences, an increase of 23 percent over the previous 12-month period. Instances of theft from a person increased by 22 percent, while there were also over 55,000 recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument.”

It is proposed under new warrantless powers of entry  that police will be able to enter premises where stolen phone locations can be identified through a ‘find my phone’ app, WiFi access points, Bluetooth, mobile network technology or tracking devices attached to any other possession or vehicle.

Two aspects of the Bill will propose a separate offence of assault upon shop workers and previous legislation restricting shop thefts with a value of less than £200 to the Magistrates’ Court will be scrapped.

Respect Orders are proposed. These appear to be a re-branded form of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs).  They will be used in conjunction with new powers to seize off-road bikes used in parks and e-scooters used on pavements.

Stalking Protection Orders are to be strengthened, along with a new offence covering spiking and a law preventing registered sex offenders from changing their names while still a risk.

The Bill seeks to Implement a recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, creating a new duty to report child sexual abuse, backed up by criminal penalties for those who seek to cover up abuse.

A full summary of the proposals in the Crime and Policing Bill can be found here.

Contact one of our expert criminal lawyers

It is clear that the Crime and Policing Bill will once more amend the law and bring in a host of new offences.  Our solicitors are able to advise you in relation to any aspect of the new or existing laws.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are facing an investigation or prosecution.

Advice and representation in a police interview under caution will always be free of charge to you.

Legal Aid will often be available to defend court proceedings.

We have offices across the East Midlands.

Contact your nearest office here. 

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Monthly Archives: February 2025

driving disqualifications driving bans road traffic solicitorSentencing guidelines now exist for a wide range of offences.  New guidelines that govern the imposition of driving disqualifications have been published and will affect all cases sentenced after 1 April 2025.

The new guidelines can be found here.

Much of the guidelines simply restate what are the established rules.  One effect of the guidelines might be to encourage Magistrates or Judges to impose discretionary re-tests (or extended re-tests) for allegations not obviously captured by such a sentence before.

Paragraph 21 of the new guideline says:

“Where there is discretion to order a re-test (whether extended or ordinary), the court may wish to do so where there is evidence of inexperience, incompetence or infirmity, or the disqualification period (with or without a period in custody) is lengthy, meaning the offender is going to be ‘off the road’ for a considerable time.”

This will be important for drivers because as the guideline also sets out:

“The extended retest costs the offender double the amount of the standard practical test. It contains the same elements as the ordinary practical test, but will always be more than 60 minutes in duration, and will always include an emergency stop exercise and driving on roads where the national speed limit applies.”

Our role is to be aware of changes of emphasis within Sentencing Guidelines and tailor persuasive arguments to allow the sentencer to avoid or minimise driving disqualifications where the circumstances permit.  This may involve gathering helpful information relating to the effect of a driving ban or your character.

Contact an expert in road traffic law

Individuals may be at greater risk of driving disqualifications until re-test are passed. We have offices across the East Midlands and will happily travel across the country to provide representation for all types of offences.  Follow the link for contact details.

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