Private Hospitals Operator Triumphs in £20 Million Insurance Dispute

Commercial Law, Crime

No matter how long and technical the wording of an insurance policy may be, it may contain ambiguities that can only be resolved with expert legal assistance. A case on point concerned an eight-figure loss sustained by an operator of private hospitals arising from a breast surgeon’s negligent and criminal acts. The company inherited the liabilities of a predecessor which owned private hospitals where the surgeon performed operations. The General Medical Council suspended him from practising on the basis that he had negligently performed numerous mastectomy operations on breast cancer patients (the negligent operations). He was subsequently convicted of assaulting …

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Cross-Border Child Abduction and Habitual Residence – Guideline Ruling

Family Law, Crime

A parent who wishes to move from one country to another with his or her child must first obtain the consent of the parent left behind. That principle of international law is easily stated but, as a guideline Court of Appeal ruling showed, applying it in a way that protects the child’s welfare is often a much more complicated matter. The case concerned two children, aged six and eight, who were born in Germany, where they spent the first years of their lives. Both their parents were also born in Germany. After the parents’ marriage came to an end, the …

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High Court Grants Child Murderers of Angela Wrightson Lifetime Anonymity

Crime

Balancing freedom of the press against the human rights of individuals is always a fraught exercise and, as a High Court case showed, that is doubly so in a criminal context when young children commit heinous offences. The case concerned two women who were aged 13 and 14 when they murdered Angela Wrightson, a vulnerable adult, in Hartlepool. They inflicted over 100 injuries on their victim and took pictures of themselves in her home, posting them on social media. They were still children when they were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Throughout their trial, and in the …

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Teenager Struck by Hit-and-Run Driver Due Massive Compensation

Personal Injury, Crime

Deciding where blame lies for road accidents is one of the more anxious tasks faced by judges, particularly if the victim is a child. That was certainly so in the case of a 13-year-old boy who was catastrophically injured by a reckless driver who was on the run from the police. The driver, who had an extensive criminal record, leapt into his car as police officers approached him and took off with the door open and wheels spinning. After turning a corner he struck the teenager, who was crossing the road. The boy suffered a brain injury which rendered him …

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‘Missing Trader’ Fraud – Covert Recordings Lawfully Used in Evidence

Crime

So-called ‘missing trader’ frauds yield vast profits to organised criminals but can be extraordinarily hard to detect. However, the task faced by police in tackling such operations may be rendered a little easier by a Court of Appeal ruling that covert recordings were lawfully used in evidence against two perpetrators. The case concerned a group of companies that dealt in gold, silver and other high-value metals. Its accounts indicated a profitable business with bank receipts of £118 million over a six-year period. A bogus trail of invoices and other documents were created to reinforce that impression. Following a police investigation, …

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High Court Authorises Deprivation of Runaway Teenager’s Liberty

Crime

In extreme cases where children stray beyond parental control, putting themselves at risk, the High Court has the power to deprive them of their liberty. In an example of that power being exercised, a judge acted to save a 16-year-old boy from the malign influence of the drugs gang culture into which he had fallen. The teenager frequently ran away from home and travelled around the country. He was believed to be involved in a so-called ‘county lines’ drugs network. He had been arrested in possession of 70 wraps of crack cocaine. He had been the victim of a serious …

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Worldwide Asset Freezing Orders Issued After Bank Cries $1 Billion Fraud

Commercial Law, Crime

Even banks and other sophisticated financial institutions are sometimes caught out by apparently thriving businesses which are not all that they seem. In a case on point, the High Court came to the urgent aid of an overseas bank which claimed to have lost more than $1 billion as a result of wholesale fraud. The case involved a UK-registered company which gave all the appearance of being highly successful but which collapsed in what the bank described as a calamitous fall from grace. It was placed in administration at the behest of the bank, to which it was very heavily …

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