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It’s a Genuine Fake!

Unauthorised use of a registered trademark is a criminal offence, so selling fake goods at a car boot sale or on internet selling sites can get you into serious trouble. Few people appreciate the offences that can be committed, and ignorance is usually no defence. This article seeks to explain the background to some offences […]

Psychoactive Substances

New legislation was introduced in 2016 banning the production, sale, distribution and supply of psychoactive substances. Within that legislation was a requirement for the government to review the law to measure any changes in outcomes before and after the law was introduced, to see if its aims were being achieved. That review has just taken […]

Drink Driving – The Reality

Many people have an image of a typical drink driver: overweight man, staggering from the pub after an all-day session and getting into his car. A few minutes later that car being pulled over by police officers due to erratic driving. That is sometimes the story, but not the most common one that we see. […]

Computer hacking

Hacking has been in the news a great deal in the last couple of years, for example, the 2016 US Presidential Elections, the extradition case of Lauri Love and the hacking of user accounts of various large companies in order to steal personal information. At the other end of the spectrum we see cases of […]

Happy Birthday to the Human Rights Act

The Human Rights Act is 20 years old this year. Its name is often used in vain, “it’s against my human rights!” or blamed for something that probably isn’t to do with the Act at all. The Act sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms to which everyone in the UK is entitled. Where […]

Stop and Search

The power of the police to stop and search is currently in the media due to the rise in murders and serious crimes of violence involving the use of knives, particularly in London. A particular area of concern is the disproportionate use of search powers in relation to some minority groups. So, what are the […]

Fly-tipping – ensuring all polluters pay

We all know that fly-tipping is an offence, but did you know you commit an offence if you pass waste to someone who isn’t licensed? What do you mean by ‘waste’? This article is referring to household waste, for example, excess rubbish that does not fit in your general collection bins. How could […]

The “Gangs Matrix”

Earlier this year the Metropolitan Police was in the spotlight over their use of a ‘gang matrix’, and now they are back in the news again. What is the matrix? It is a list set up after the London riots in 2011, holding information on “persons of interest”. Various intelligence sources are used to […]

What Next for Sally?

In a dramatic climax the jury returned guilty verdicts in the case of R v Sally Metcalfe, the hapless Coronation Street Councillor caught up in fraud, money laundering and bribery. As viewers will know, poor Sally appears to be a victim of Duncan’s cunning plan to divert blame elsewhere. Her fate now lies in the […]

Price and service transparency

As of 6 December 2018, law firms are required to publish information about certain price, service and regulatory matters. Who needs to publish information? An authorised firm or a sole practitioner must publish cost information on its website (or it must be available by request if there is no website). The requirement arises whenever […]