GV Hale news

20/03/25

A British couple who discovered an illegal migrant hiding under a bike-rack cover on their motorhome after returning from a holiday in France have been fined £1,500.

Adrian and Joanne Fenton had just arrived home in Heybridge, Essex, when they found the stowaway—a Sudanese national—concealed at the rear of their vehicle. Despite immediately reporting the discovery to authorities, the couple, both in their 50s, were later fined by the Home Office for failing to "check that no clandestine entrant was concealed in the vehicle."

26/02/25

CCTV footage has captured the moment suspected thieves made off with a £4.8 million golden toilet from Blenheim Palace. The fully functional, 18-carat gold lavatory was stolen in a daring raid in the early hours of September 14, 2019, lasting just five minutes.

Jurors were shown footage of a stolen Isuzu truck speeding across the palace lawn before stopping at the 20 steps leading to the entrance. Moments later, a second stolen vehicle, a VW Golf, pulled up alongside it. At 4:50 a.m., three men approached the building, two wielding sledgehammers, while two drivers remained in the vehicles.

27/01/25

Judges have criticized the Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) use of work-from-home community sentences, stating they fail as effective punishments. A MoJ report evaluating unpaid work in community sentences revealed concerns about allowing offenders to complete online courses from home, which judges argued lacked the punitive aspect necessary for such sentences. Instead, offenders viewed these courses as a "reward," enabling them to avoid outdoor work in challenging conditions, often referred to as "chain gangs."

One circuit judge expressed scepticism, questioning whether simply completing online education, training, and employment (ETE) courses at a computer could genuinely be considered unpaid work. The report highlighted judges' broader concerns that online courses prioritise rehabilitation over punishment, which some did not see as the intended purpose of unpaid work. Another judge criticised the quality of the courses, emphasising they should involve rigorous training rather than granting qualifications with minimal effort.

18/12/24

Criminals now owe a record £4.4 billion in unpaid fines and court fees, according to official figures. This sum is equivalent to the original budget set aside for building 20,000 prison places.

For the first time, ministers have revealed that unpaid fines have surpassed £1 billion, with an additional £3.4 billion owed in legal costs and confiscation orders imposed on convicted criminals.

26/11/24

A broadsheet investigation has uncovered that burglary victims are waiting up to five years for justice due to unprecedented court delays. Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data reveals nearly 1 in 10 theft victims, including burglary cases, face waits exceeding two years from reporting their crime to the perpetrators being brought to trial.

One aggravated burglary victim recounted her ordeal, where eight machete-wielding men broke into her family home. Despite waiting three years since the October 2021 attack, she was informed the suspects wouldn't face trial until 2026. "I am furious," she said, expressing frustration over the police's handling of the case.