Im in a taxi and my taxi driver keeps telling me that he’s a proud Guncle and he thinks it means Great Uncle and I haven’t the heart to tell him what it really means.

If you are a barrister who through no particular prowess of your own has managed to secure a significant public platform, my top tip is to try your best not to make allegations against the judiciary when they do things that you don’t like.

You named your daughter… Tess Stickle???

One of the Liams has managed to be fast-track remanded during Operation Early Dawn and I just know he’s going to view this as winning some sort of challenge. Against all the stakes, he made it to prison.

Failed asylum seekers are supposed to be deported to their country of origin, not Rwanda. This is some sort of performative nonsense designed to con the public into thinking the “Rwanda plan” is being executed when it isn’t. It’s just a massive spaff of your money up the wall.

Exclusive: A Parc prison employee has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling contraband into the crisis-hit jail.

He is the fourth person within two months to have been arrested in connection with illicit items or drugs brought into the jail.

In case you're wondering how this goes:
1. Release high-risk offenders
2. Someone gets seriously hurt
3. Blame the police for not protecting the public
4. Govt *reforms the police to save the day.
(*Closes more police stations & reduces pay & conditions)
theguardian.com/society/articl…

Operation Early Dawn.................

I was original led Pros counsel in this (nothing to do with the appeal).

My leader was James Gelsthorpe who sadly died later that year, aged 36.

I would have shared this with him today. Since I can't, I'm sharing it here.

A superb barrister and friend, still sadly missed.

1. Failed asylum seekers can now apparently in theory be removed to Rwanda against their will. But if you can’t remove them to their own country how will you send them to Rwanda?

Court Attendance Note from today: 'client not brought to court because of Operation Early Dawn although listed in court 10. He may or may not be produced tomorrow. He may already be bailed. Who knows? Will have to check with cells tomorrow' #thelawisbroken

What the HELL did I just read?

The Bar Council received the following briefing from the MoJ:
Operation Early Dawn will be in place throughout England from Wed 15th May, as a result of the prison population in police cells reaching an acute level and prisoner transport services being unable to cope...

How was the police custody/mags remand/bail situation today, team?

Almost 2,500 people were convicted last month in private court hearings for not paying for a TV Licence

One was a partially-sighted man from Oldham with learning disabilities

His mum pleaded guilty on his behalf

You wonder what help he got to try to avoid a criminal conviction

I was very sad to hear of the defacing with red paint of what was probably once a very good portrait of His Majesty

There are many people, likely numbering thousands, who don’t need to be in prison. The failure of the government to take steps to identify them and provide what they do need means that the prisons are so full that they can’t accommodate new prisoners, whether needful or not.

The Criminal Justice System is in full blown crisis.

The AG's appeal against Valdo Calocane's sentence has unsurprisingly been rejected. As I argued in last month's Crim LR , this has caused further distress to the families & risks damaging public confidence in the judiciary. She should not have made it
judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl…

“My Lord, I have endured worse.”

Miss Elsie Bowerman of counsel packed quite a bit into her 84 years on this planet. I bet the Judges at the Bailey found her quite fearsome.