Law and Rights
Update 10th July: Sgt. Nightingale has been convicted - The Guardian 10th July and BBC News England 10th July. Sentencing to be at a later date.
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This post is based on The Times leading article of 1st July 'Army chiefs go to war with SAS' - (here - £ paywall).
On Monday 1st July, The Times reported that the Danny Nightingale case (see previous post) coincides with concerns in the Army over the SAS after a decade of combat operations in the Middle East. 'Sources said that the chain of command was uneasy about an apparent culture of impunity in the regiment and was determined to "grip" the situation' and further. An amnesty for illegal weapons, which was instituted after Sergeant Nightingale's arrest, is understood to have shocked senior officers.'
The Times further reported
that the Ministry of Defence was to call 16 members of the SAS to testify against Sergeant Nightingale during the two week trial and that two possible prosecution witnesses are SAS members now in prison. The housemate was convicted of possession of a pistol, silence, a hand grenade, several hundred rounds of ammunition and stun grenades. He received a 2 year sentence. Another witness was convicted of 15 counts of rape on children as young as 4 and is now serving 25 years. He was also found to have 200 rounds of illegally held ammunition.
Sergeant Nightingale's backers say that he is being made a scapegoat to deliver a message to the Army that no one is above the law. [If true, one might think that such a point had already been made?]. Nightingale was recommended in June for discharge on medical grounds after an army board accepted that he had suffered brain damage in 2009 after collapsing during a 200 mile trek in the Amazon jungle.
Another aspect of this matter is that it has been reported that the Nightingale family may have to sell their home to fund the case. The government's latest legal aid proposals do not refer to the court martial. The Armed Forces Criminal Legal Aid Authority administers a distinct legal aid scheme based upon the same principles as those which apply in the civilian system, with additional provision for the unique circumstances of entitled personnel. So, for example, determination (review) and payment of costs and disbursements is calculated using the formulae applied to lawyers defending in the Crown Court, whether the matter relates to cases for service personnel abroad or not.
Further report - Mail Online 1st July
The case continues ....
- Tuesday Roundup ~ Access To Justice; Judicial Review; Military Justice; Apologies And Pardons'; Jurors And The Internet
Access to justice continues to be under attack from the coalition government. It appears that their latest gambit concerns 'standing' to bring judicial review. The Transforming Legal Aid proposals were issued earlier this year and,...
- Sergeant Danny Nightingale ~ A Look At His Sentencing
After a retrial, the Court Martial sentenced Sergeant Danny Nightingale to 2 years detention suspended for 12 months. The sentencing remarks of the Judge Advocate General are HERE. Previous posts have followed the interesting twists and turns of...
- 500,000 +
Yippee!!! Yesterday, the blog exceeded 500,000 page views. Many thanks to all readers. Hopefully, I will be plodding on for some time yet. In that vein,what is in the news? 1) Sergeant Danny Nightingale is to be sentenced this morning....
- Sgt. Danny Nightingale ~ Military Justice Under The Microscope (1)
Duke of Lancaster's RegimentUpdate 1st July - Court Martial to start hearing evidence ---- Sergeant Danny Nightingale will be on trial - for the second time - at the Court Martial sitting at Bulford Military Court Centre, 1st July 2013 at 10:00 am,...
- A Thursday Miscellany
The veteran broadcaster Mr Stuart Hall (pictured) has pleaded guilty to counts of indecent assault committed in the period 1967-85. A count of rape will 'lie on the file' and not be tried since (a) the complainant does not wish it to proceed...
Law and Rights
Sgt Danny Nightingale - Military justice under the microscope (2)
---
This post is based on The Times leading article of 1st July 'Army chiefs go to war with SAS' - (here - £ paywall).
On Monday 1st July, The Times reported that the Danny Nightingale case (see previous post) coincides with concerns in the Army over the SAS after a decade of combat operations in the Middle East. 'Sources said that the chain of command was uneasy about an apparent culture of impunity in the regiment and was determined to "grip" the situation' and further. An amnesty for illegal weapons, which was instituted after Sergeant Nightingale's arrest, is understood to have shocked senior officers.'
The Times further reported
that the Ministry of Defence was to call 16 members of the SAS to testify against Sergeant Nightingale during the two week trial and that two possible prosecution witnesses are SAS members now in prison. The housemate was convicted of possession of a pistol, silence, a hand grenade, several hundred rounds of ammunition and stun grenades. He received a 2 year sentence. Another witness was convicted of 15 counts of rape on children as young as 4 and is now serving 25 years. He was also found to have 200 rounds of illegally held ammunition.
Sergeant Nightingale's backers say that he is being made a scapegoat to deliver a message to the Army that no one is above the law. [If true, one might think that such a point had already been made?]. Nightingale was recommended in June for discharge on medical grounds after an army board accepted that he had suffered brain damage in 2009 after collapsing during a 200 mile trek in the Amazon jungle.
Another aspect of this matter is that it has been reported that the Nightingale family may have to sell their home to fund the case. The government's latest legal aid proposals do not refer to the court martial. The Armed Forces Criminal Legal Aid Authority administers a distinct legal aid scheme based upon the same principles as those which apply in the civilian system, with additional provision for the unique circumstances of entitled personnel. So, for example, determination (review) and payment of costs and disbursements is calculated using the formulae applied to lawyers defending in the Crown Court, whether the matter relates to cases for service personnel abroad or not.
Further report - Mail Online 1st July
The case continues ....
- Tuesday Roundup ~ Access To Justice; Judicial Review; Military Justice; Apologies And Pardons'; Jurors And The Internet
Access to justice continues to be under attack from the coalition government. It appears that their latest gambit concerns 'standing' to bring judicial review. The Transforming Legal Aid proposals were issued earlier this year and,...
- Sergeant Danny Nightingale ~ A Look At His Sentencing
After a retrial, the Court Martial sentenced Sergeant Danny Nightingale to 2 years detention suspended for 12 months. The sentencing remarks of the Judge Advocate General are HERE. Previous posts have followed the interesting twists and turns of...
- 500,000 +
Yippee!!! Yesterday, the blog exceeded 500,000 page views. Many thanks to all readers. Hopefully, I will be plodding on for some time yet. In that vein,what is in the news? 1) Sergeant Danny Nightingale is to be sentenced this morning....
- Sgt. Danny Nightingale ~ Military Justice Under The Microscope (1)
Duke of Lancaster's RegimentUpdate 1st July - Court Martial to start hearing evidence ---- Sergeant Danny Nightingale will be on trial - for the second time - at the Court Martial sitting at Bulford Military Court Centre, 1st July 2013 at 10:00 am,...
- A Thursday Miscellany
The veteran broadcaster Mr Stuart Hall (pictured) has pleaded guilty to counts of indecent assault committed in the period 1967-85. A count of rape will 'lie on the file' and not be tried since (a) the complainant does not wish it to proceed...