Expert Witness Legal News – page 16

I predict a riot – about sentencing

By Felicity Gerry, Barrister

As David Cameron calls for tougher sentences for rioters and looters, never has it been more clearly demonstrated both that the public don’t understand the legal process and that the tick box guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council are a waste of time. As advocacy sinks in the mire of “starting points” and “features” rather than human interest, judges will be lambasted anyway for trying to impose suitable sentences. As for the rioters, the public would lock them all up and throw away the key. The Sentencing Council tries to explain why sentences differ but eventually all everyone will argue about is whether the sentences were right.

You could not make it up but some did

Insurers are detecting more fraudulent claims than ever: over 2,500 worth £18 million every week

A gymnast with back trouble, a flying toilet roll holder, an invented wedding engagement, a fake photograph and an invisible wall were among the record number of fraudulent insurance claims detected by insurers in 2010 according to figures released today by the ABI.

The figures highlight that in 2010:

• Insurers uncovered 133,000 fraudulent insurance claims - 2,500 every week - up 9% on 2009. The value of these claims was £919 million, also up 9% on the previous year. Over the last five years both the number and overall value of insurance frauds detected have risen by over 100%.
• The most common frauds involved home insurance with 66,000 bogus or exaggerated claims detected, followed by dishonest motor insurance frauds with 40,000 frauds uncovered. Motor frauds were the most costly, totalling £466 million.
• The value of savings from detected frauds represented 5% of all claims, compared to 4% on 2009

Should expert witnesses be immune from being sued?

It may be time to end the immunity from liability of expert witnesses, writes Simon Mills

Expert Witnesses are an important and somewhat exceptional part of the legal process. They are important because many cases depend on expert witness evidence in order to get to the truth of matters.

In criminal cases, for example, expert forensic evidence can be vital, while in personal injuries cases, expert actuarial evidence can help guide the court to the final value of any award of damages.

Chile inquiry confirms President Allende killed himself

A team of international experts has concluded that the former president of Chile, Salvador Allende, killed himself during the 1973 military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.

A detailed report was released two months after Mr Allende's body was exhumed as part of an inquiry into his death.

How a mobile phone broke killers' wall of silence

Avie Howell had inserted his SIM card into Ben Mullany's mobile phone 12 hours after the shooting

The two men convicted of killing honeymooners Ben and Catherine Mullany refused to give evidence during their trial.

Their silence was described as "deafening" by one prosecutor – it became even more so as the wealth of evidence connecting them to the killings became apparent during the trial in the Antiguan capital of St John's. Avie Howell and Kaniel Martin protested their innocence throughout the two-month trial, but a jury handed down a guilty verdict yesterday after 10 hours' deliberation.