Correna Platt

On the 9 th June 2022 the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions in the case of R V Johnson 2022 EWCA 790. The appellant was represented by Miss Correna Platt of Stephensons and Mr David Emanuel QC of Garden Court Chambers....

The first sentencing guidelines for offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, were published on the 12 th August by the Sentencing Council following consultation. The offences covered include slavery, forced labour, human trafficking or an offence...

In September 2020, Extinction Rebellion protested in central London with the aim of highlighting the issue of climate change. It was reported that they blocked roads, glued themselves to the floor and staged sit-ins. In total the police arrested more than...

Between 2000 and 2014, the Post Office prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters (an average of one a week) based on information from a recently installed computer system called Horizon. After 20 years, campaigners have now won a legal battle to have their cases...

The KPMG Fraud Barometer report analyses the trends of fraud within the UK, focusing on major fraud cases that are heard in the Crown Court where charges are in excess of £100,000. The value of fraud in the UK drops from...

In 2002, our client was convicted of S.18 GBH. It is alleged he shook his baby which resulted in brain damage and life-long disabilities for his child. The client received a 4 year sentence of imprisonment for this offence. In 2016 the child died...

We recently represented a client who was charged with the murder of his son. This related to an incident which had occurred in 2001 and which had been prosecuted in 2002 as an allegation of causing grievous bodily harm with intent (S.18 GBH). The...

An Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) is an order which an enforcement authority can request which in essence recovers property that cannot be accounted for legitimately. It is also known as the mafia order as it takes away unexplained wealth that you can...

On the 2nd July 2020 the BBC reported that the top secret communication system used by criminals has been successfully penetrated and this has led to the arrests of hundreds of criminals and sent shockwaves throughout organised crime groups in Europe. ...

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), also known as the furlough scheme, is the provision made by the UK government to assist businesses with retaining workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme pays a percentage of the wages of employees...

As of today the answer is yes! On the 1st June 2020 an amendment to the Health Protection (Coronavirus restrictions) Bill states: No person may without reasonable excuse stay overnight at any place other than the place...

Recently there have been a number of cases in the press of male defendants going to trial charged with a serious sexual assault which they claim that they have committed whilst they were asleep. This condition is known as sexsomnia. Sleep related sexual...

Often partners or relatives find themselves in a situation where an asset which they have an interest in are being sought to be recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act. When an asset is owned within a relationship or a marriage then the asset will be...

Since 2013 there has been a legal battle in the USA between a Texas man Cody Wilson and the US government. In 2015 Wilson was forced to remove the blue prints he had put on the web for a 3D printed gun he called the Liberator. The Trump administration...

In the last six months the press have reported on a number of cases that have collapsed due to the failure of the police to provide full disclosure to the defence. These cases have highlighted the failings in the disclosure process and resulted in a...

By Correna Platt, partner and head of the Appeals team at Stephensons. This blog was first featured on the Inside Justice UK website - Be involved I can not stress how important it is that a client is involved in their own case. Many...

The case of Nunn raised the question of the extent of any continuing duty of the police and the Crown prosecution service to assist him in gathering and examining evidence with a view to a further challenge to his conviction. The ruling has wide...

Judges at the Court of Appeal have ruled that the most serious offenders in England and Wales can be jailed for their whole life. This was despite the fact that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said last year that whole life terms breached a...

On the 4th September 2013 Shahidul Ahmed was found guilty of the murder of Rachel Manning which occurred in 2002. This case highlights how important it is to pursue and fight for miscarriages of justice because in 2002, Mr White, the boyfriend of Miss...

A defendant can plead guilty and then seek to challenge that conviction as being unsafe as evidenced in the case of SAS sniper Danny Nightingale. The lawyers for Mr Nightingale argued that he had been placed under...

The following article was first published on Lexis®PSL Crime on 8 February 2013. Click here for a free 24 trial of Lexis®PSL. 08/02/2013 Crime analysis: What next for disclosure...

In R v Fletcher (2012), an IPP sentence was quashed and a restricted hospital order substituted in its place as the Judge had not properly been informed as to the appellant's mental state. The original...

Campbell Malone, a consultant to Stephensons' appeals team and a former partner of the firm, together with Correna Platt, head of appeals at Stephensons, have prepared an essay for www.thejusticegap.com. The essay...

Mr Dizaei was convicted of Perverting the Course of Justice and Misconduct of Public Office. It was alleged by the prosecution that Mr Dizaei had falsely claimed that the complainant had assaulted him. Mr...

On the 6th February 2013 judgment was handed down in the case of R v Adeojo, Nyamupfukudza at the Court of Appeal (2013 EWCA Crim 41 case no: 201200231D1). Central to the rule is that in the absence of an...

The question to consider in criminal appeals is whether the lurking doubt principle actually exists? In a recent Judgment R v Pope (2012) EWCA Crim 2241 the Court of Appeal confirmed that the so-called ‘lurking...

Lawyers for Sgt Danny Nightingale, the SAS soldier convicted of possession of a pistol and live ammunition at a court martial earlier this month, have confirmed an appeal has been launched against his conviction. The...

Our Civil Liberties team was recently involved in a high profile case at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concerning three offenders who had been jailed indefinitely without being given access to courses which would have aided their rehabilitation. ...

The issue of duress has come under the spotlight in relation to whether a threat of false imprisonment could suffice for the defence of duress. Dao & Ors v R. [2012] EWCA Crim 1717 (31 July 2012) considered this point: The case in essence stated that...

Last week, Lorraine Allen, a mother who was wrongly imprisoned following the death of her son Patrick in one of the so-called Shaken Baby Syndrome cases, discovered that her fight for compensation will be heard at the European Court of Human...

Following a successful event in London in March, The Justice Gap held a debate in Manchester on “Who Investigates Miscarriages of Justice” jointly hosted by leading Manchester barristers’ chambers, Garden Court North....

The welcome news that the Court of Appeal has quashed the conviction of Sam Hallam after a determined campaign by family, friends and supporters brings with it some sobering reminders. At the age of 17, Mr Hallam had been convicted in 2005 of...

For someone still fighting to overturn their conviction after an unsuccessful appeal, the Criminal Cases Review Commission is their last chance. Established as an independent body to consider suspected miscarriages, it...

The Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association held its annual conference last weekend. The theme of the event was “Miscarriages of justice, who cares? The association was formed in 2002 with a view to promoting better...

Ten years ago, Stephensons’ consultant Campbell Malone, along with a number of other leading specialist criminal appeal lawyers, helped establish the Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association. One of the reasons for...

It is amazing to think that nearly 12 years have elapsed since the publication of the first edition of Taylor on Criminal Appeals. That edition has always been one of the most thumbed works of reference amongst my own criminal appeal colleagues...

Earlier this month, the launch of a series of essays entitled "Wrongly accused: Who is responsible for investigating miscarriages of justice?" was held at the College of Law. It is the fourth publication...