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Fireworks and the Law

As Bonfire Night approaches families will be looking forward to enjoying the displays.  These might be in the garden or an organised display.  While the night sky is brought alive by the vibrant explosions of noise and colour there remains. lurking in the background, a risk that failing to deal with fireworks safely and responsibly could bring an individual to the attention of the police and the courts.  The issue of fireworks and the law can be complex, with regulations changing regularly.

It will be important that retailers who are thinking of supplying fireworks for the first time consider their obligations relating to fireworks and the law.  They will need to ensure that they are sufficiently familiar with the complex rules that regulate the sale and possession of fireworks.

Contravention of the rules can result in substantial fines being imposed, or even a prison sentence.

One of our crime and regulatory experts Martin Hadley explains the law.

Classes of firework

There are four general classifications for fireworks:

• Class 1 – Indoor fireworks
• Class 2 – Garden fireworks
• Class 3 – Display fireworks
• Class 4 – Professional fireworks

Certain fireworks are banned entirely, such as mini-rockets, bangers, firecrackers, ‘jumping fireworks’ and air bombs.

There are also fireworks referred to as ‘adult fireworks’, which are subject to a local authority licensing regime.

Importation of Fireworks

It is a criminal offence to import fireworks unless notice of the fact is given to HM Customs and Excise, and details of the importer’s name and address where fireworks will be kept.

Given the sizeable market in illegal and unsafe imported fireworks, it is always wise only to purchase from established, recognised retailers.

Sale of Fireworks

Retailers must display specified signage warning that it is illegal to sell fireworks to those under 18 years.   This prohibition extends to sparklers.  Retailers should have robust training procedures in place to ensure that store staff know how to recognise under-age purchasers, and challenge as to age in appropriate cases.

There are licensing restrictions on the supply of adult fireworks.

You can only buy fireworks (including sparklers) from registered sellers for private use on these dates:

• 15 October to 10 November
• 26 to 31 December
• 3 days before Diwali and Chinese New Year

At other times you can only buy fireworks from licensed shops.

Possession of Fireworks

It is an offence for a person under 18 years to possess most fireworks in a public place. There are limited exceptions for those employed in the business of firework displays and other relevant occupations.

The possession of category four fireworks is prohibited save for those employed in the business of firework displays and other relevant occupations.

Weight and time limits apply to how much of each type you can store at home before you need to register your storage or apply for a licence.

If you are buying just selection boxes and sparklers from the supermarket, small quantities of fireworks in general or are buying your fireworks a day or two before you let them off, you do not normally need to worry about storage laws as they would not apply.

Night-time Restrictions

With certain exceptions for particular notable days of the year, the use of adult fireworks is not permitted during the hours of 11 pm – 7 am.

Again, there are specific exemptions:

• November 5th – You can let fireworks off until midnight.
• New Year’s Eve – You can let fireworks off until 1am.
• Diwali – You can let fireworks off until 1am.
• Chinese New Year – You can let fireworks off until 1am

Noise Levels

Category 3 fireworks are restricted to a sound impulse sound pressure level of 120 decibels. It is an offence to supply any firework that contravenes this restriction.

Public Order, arson, violent and Other Offences

Fireworks are dangerous incendiary devices and in the wrong hands can cause serious injury to persons, animals and property. Many of these offences carry substantial criminal penalties.

Transporting fireworks

Fireworks are explosives and cannot be sent through the post. This also applies to sparklers. Fireworks can only be shipped using an explosives courier and must be clearly marked as such.

Contact a criminal law specialist

Bonfire Night is a time for fun but can land the unwary in hot water with the police.

A person can be fined up to £5,000 and imprisoned for up to 6 months for selling or using fireworks illegally. You could also get an on-the-spot fine of £90.

Separate offences can be convicted if fireworks are used to cause a nuisance.

We can advise on any aspect of criminal law including fireworks and the law, so if in doubt contact your nearest office to speak to a criminal solicitor.  If you are a business under investigation for contravening the relevant regulations then please contact crime and regulatory solicitor Martin Hadley.

Alternatively you can use the contact form below.

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Chesterfield crime solicitor Denney Lau has been successful in securing his place in the 2019 London marathon.

His chosen cause is the Papworth Hospital Charity. This organisation sets out its aims thus:

“As a charity, our purpose is to enhance patient experience which in turn reflects the ethos of Royal Papworth Hospital and its staff, who work tirelessly to give patients the best quality of care. To ensure this standard of care continues to be offered, the Charity looks to not only support current services and care for patients but also proactively look to the future and support innovations that will help to tackle the growing prevalence of cardiothoracic diseases and conditions, thus in turn helping the local and in some cases national healthcare economy.”

Denney’s aim is to raise enough money for a pace maker that will make a real difference to the life of the recipient.

Personal motivation for taking on the challenge

Denney will be taking his position at the start of the 2019 London Marathon in memory of his father Tom Lau who passed away 10 years ago.

His father had suffered a major heart attack and was rushed to his local hospital before being rushed to the Papworth specialist hospital.

The hospital never gave up on the treatment of Denney’s dad and was able to prolong his life by fitting a secondary external artificial heart and was able to spend the following months at home with family.

Denney says that as a result of this treatment:

“I was able to make many happy memories with my father, including introducing him to my now wife, attending our engagement party and he saw me qualify as a solicitor, and in our new home.”

Unfortunately, the family knew without a transplant his dad was on borrowed time, and his heart eventually gave out a year later.

At the time of his father’s death, Denney is the first to admit that he himself was overweight and unfit.  He has been able to turn his grief into a positive motivation to become fit and start running.  This London Marathon will be the culmination of that program.

Running the 2019 London Marathon

Denney says this about his motivation to raise money while running the 2019 London Marathon:

“I really hope that we can raise enough together to literally save one person’s life, or even to extend someone’s life even for a short period so happy memories can be made.”

You can find the link to Denney’s Just Giving page here. Please give generously to a great cause.

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Where possible, VHS Fletchers is a solicitors’ firm committed to encouraging those interested in joining the legal profession.  We welcome law students who are keen to find out what it is really like to be a criminal defence solicitor and legal aid lawyer.

Work placements can be hard to come by, but if you are local to one of our East Midlands offices then please contact us to see if we have space at one of them at a mutually convenient time.

VHS Fletchers are also keen to encourage those interested in joining the legal profession and welcome law students keen to find out what it is really like to be a Criminal Defence Solicitor. Work placements can be hard to come by so for those unable to secure a placement below is a description of Chesterfield partner and Crime Solicitor David Gittins typical week.

Monday

David was in the office early meeting Natalie the work placement student to show her the sort of work undertaken by a legal aid lawyer.  They then walked over to Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court to represent a client who in the end failed to attend.

As a result, there was a lengthy wait before a warrant was issued, but David was able to use the time preparing for a later appointment to take instructions in relation to an upcoming trial.

It appears that the tone had been set for the day, and that client failed to keep his appointment.

David also undertook some preparation for his second appointment of the day.  This again related to a forthcoming trial at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court.

This was a particularly important appointment as the trial was listed before the court for a prosecution application to let the Magistrates’ know about his client’s previous convictions.  David had hoped to discuss the convictions in detail to help him know how best to argue against the application.

This final client of the day also failed to attend his appointment.

Tuesday (day)

David was at Chesterfield Magistrates Court again on Tuesday.  This time he was acting as court duty solicitor.  This means that he would act as a legal aid lawyer for those defendants who hadn’t instructed a specific solicitor to act for them.

When David attended court he would not know the type of cases that he would be dealing with.  In the end he represented two clients who had attended on bail and one in the cells.

He returned to court in the afternoon to complete all of the cases,  including the representation of one defendant who had pleaded guilty to drink driving.

In between cases, David was able to discuss a case for the following day that needed the input of a consultant psychiatrist due to his client having difficulties with his mental health.

At the end of the normal working day, David saw a new client at the office who had been recommended to him.  He was able to take instructions and submit a legal aid application online.

Tuesday (night)

That night David was on call as one of the lawyers staffing the firm’s out of hours police station rota to provide emergency advice and assistance to those being interviewed under caution by the police.

Although it would no doubt be preferable to interview suspects during normal working hours, the police often think it appropriate to interview at any hour of the night.

Although legal aid lawyer David only represented a single suspect during this period he travelled to Chesterfield police station at 8.45pm to represent his client who was accused of assault.

Free advice was provided and the client was released under investigation whilst the Police continued to investigate the offence.

David returned home shortly before 1 am but had to be back at his desk the following morning to complete that day’s work.

Wednesday (day)

David returned to Court on Wednesday morning to successfully resist the bad character application being made by the prosecution.

He also represented the client with mental health difficulties in their absence as they were not well enough to attend court.  The case was adjourned to a future date.

On returning to the office David also spoke to the client that he had represented in the police station the previous night.  Although we do not carry out family work he was able to signpost her to a family solicitor who could help with the issues arising following her arrest and release.

David returned to Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court for the afternoon session.  He represented a client who was to be sentenced for a theft allegation.  Unfortunately, due to the delays at court, this case was not called on until 4.30pm despite a bail time of 1.45pm.

Wednesday (night)

David was again involved with our out of hours rota.  He was the coordinator for the scheme, which meant that he took the emergency calls from the Duty Solicitor Call Centre, police and clients or their families resulting from arrests.

Whilst David can complete this task from home with the use of his mobile phone, calls continue throughout the night.  David deployed his colleagues to the police station at 9.30pm and a little after midnight.

A spare room is always helpful when coordinating the rota.

Thursday

David, suffering from a lack of sleep, was back at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court at 9.30am to represent a client who had previously pleaded guilty to assaulting his partner.  David successfully argued for a community order.

The rest of the day was spent by David completing work arising from cases he had dealt with that week and preparing files for future court dates.

Friday

David was again court duty solicitor at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court.  He dealt with a client who faced an allegation of unlawful possession of a firearm.

Saturday

Magistrates’ Courts across the country also sit on a Saturday morning to deal with defendants who have been refused bail by the police.  Again we provide representation at these courts as part of our out of hours emergency rota.

David was represented two clients before Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.  The first client faced a very serious allegation of possession with intent to supply cannabis as part of an organised crime gang.  This client was remanded into custody having insufficient community ties to ensure attendance at future court dates for such a serious offence.  David was assisted by a Lithuanian interpreter in this case.

The second case was at the other end of the spectrum in terms of seriousness, although it was serious to his client.  David’s other client was simply charged with shop theft.  However, what should have been a simple matter was delayed by the police as the client was not brought through to the cells until his methadone could be located, leading to a wait of several hours.

Considering becoming a legal aid lawyer?

We are currently advertising for the post of trainee solicitor at our Chesterfield office.

There are plenty of articles on our website that show you the kind of work that you will undertake both before and after qualification.

Read more in our news section.

A legal aid lawyer will only gain the experience necessary to provide expert advice in the field of criminal law by being part of a busy practise.  We can offer that experience.

We look forward to hearing from you with either your request for work experience or application to be a trainee solicitor.

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Assaults on Emergency Workers

The penalties for assaults on emergency workers have been in the news recently.

Is there a specific offence covering assaults on emergency workers?

 Until now the only specific offence has been that of assaulting a police officer. This is a summary only offence which carries a maximum of 6 months imprisonment.

There has always been an option to charge an offender with more serious offences, such as actual or grievous bodily harm, if the injury to the officer is more serious, and this will remain the case.

However, most lower level assaults on emergency workers have had to be charged as common assault – an offence carrying a maximum of 6 months imprisonment.

What is changing?

A new law has been passed which will create a new category of common assault – assaulting an emergency worker in the exercise of their functions.

If your neighbour was a police officer and you got into a dispute and assaulted them, the new provisions would not be triggered as they would not at that time be acting as a police officer (‘in the exercise of their functions’), but if you assaulted a police officer while being arrested, the provisions would be triggered.

The Assault on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 came into force on 13 November 2018.

Who will this cover?

“emergency worker” means—

(a) a constable;

(b) a person (other than a constable) who has the powers of a constable or is otherwise employed for police purposes or is engaged to provide services for police purposes;

(c) a National Crime Agency officer;

(d) a prison officer;

(e) a person (other than a prison officer) employed or engaged to carry out functions in a custodial institution of a corresponding kind to those carried out by a prison officer;

(f) a prisoner custody officer, so far as relating to the exercise of escort functions;

(g) a custody officer, so far as relating to the exercise of escort functions;

(h) a person employed for the purposes of providing, or engaged to provide, fire services or fire and rescue services;

(i) a person employed for the purposes of providing, or engaged to provide, search services or rescue services (or both);

(j) a person employed for the purposes of providing, or engaged to provide—

(i) NHS health services, or

(ii) services in the support of the provision of NHS health services, and whose general activities in doing so involve face to face interaction with individuals receiving the services or with other members of the public.

It is immaterial whether the employment or engagement is paid or unpaid.

What is the penalty?

The maximum penalty will increase from 6 to 12 months’ imprisonment.

Is there any further effect?

The legislation will also create a statutory aggravating factor. This means that if a different offence is charged (such as actual bodily harm, for example) where the victim is an emergency worker, it will be seen as an aggravating factor which merits an increase in the sentence to be imposed.

Within the current sentencing guidelines, it is already an aggravating factor to assault a person serving the public, but the legislation will put the position on a statutory basis.

Why is this happening?

There has been an increase in assaults on emergency workers in recent years.

Government statistics reportedly show

• 26,000 assaults on police officers in the last year
• 17,000 on NHS staff
• an increase of 18% in assaults on firefighters in the previous 2 years
• a 70% increase on assault on prison officers in the 3 years up to 2017.

As a result of these increases, new legislation was proposed, and this will be the first time there is a specific offence extending protection to those carrying out the work of an emergency service.

Whether this sentence increase will deter assaults remains to be seen, with most commentators being sceptical at best.

How can we help?

Those facing allegations of assaults on emergency workers will always know that the court will treat these allegations seriously, with or without another piece of legislation.

If you are arrested or know that the police wish to speak to you about an offence of assault upon an emergency worker or any other allegation then make sure you insist on your right to free and independent legal advice.

The advantages of such early advice legal advice can be found here.

If you have already been interviewed or face court proceedings we can still make a real difference to the outcome of your case.  Legal aid may well be available to fund your defence at court.

You can read about a case where we made representations causing the prosecution to drop a case here.

This case illustrates the care we take to ensure a guilty plea to assault on medical  is the right choice for a vulnerable client.

We have offices across the East Midlands.  You can find your most convenient office here.   Alternatively you can contact us using the form below.

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We have prepared our response to the latest Government consultation on legal aid funding entitled Amending the Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme.  This time the Ministry of Justice wishes assistance on how to spend what is described as £15m of ‘new’ money on fee payments for those undertaking Crown Court advocacy.

It is optimistically hoped that the proposed fee scheme will attract suitable candidates to both the Bar and solicitors’ profession.

Unfortunately it seems unlikely that these proposals address these aspirations once the fee structure is looked at in detail.

For example, this view expressed within the consultation document is in conflict with the aim of properly funding those entering the profession.

Surely this paragraph ought to be acknowledging the damage to the junior end of the profession by choosing this as a priority?  Instead it trumpets redistribution of existing funds to the cases that more senior counsel undertake?

We wonder if anyone involved in the initial negotiation, particularly the Young Barristers Committee, is regretting expressing this opinion by now?

The consultation document seems to express a genuine interest in the views of the profession.   As a result there may be every reason to engage with the consultation.  It is hoped that organisations such as the Law Society, CLSA and SAHCA will be making strong arguments on behalf of the solicitors’ profession as a whole and preparing responses detailing the realities of the fee cuts.

Having said that, we also approach the consultation with a certain amount of cynicism.  The last two substantial consultations have resulted in Judicial Review proceedings when the government ignored the opinions proffered.

The Ministry has pledged a review of the current scheme.  It is hope that this isn’t the same level of commitment that the government has shown in relation to its review of LASPO.  We still wait for that to be concluded while people continue to be excluded from the legal aid scheme.

We have a number of concerns about the fee scheme in its entirety.  If fails to reward those at the beginning of their careers and then penalises specialist advocates later in their career who deal with complex cases with a high page count.

It represents a significant cut in fees for many types of case and will not assist with in preserving the future of criminal advocacy.

Our response to the consultation on amending the Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme

The Law Society response can be found here.

The Criminal Bar Association response can be found here.