The Barrister Bard

I read with a fatalistic air of resignation the lead story in The Times today, where somebody calling himself Bernard Hogan-Howe, I kid you not, and claiming to be the Chief Constable of Merseyside, was complaining about lenient sentences handed out by the courts to those convicted of possession of a firearm.
The thrust of Bernie’s […]

Inevitably, there has been a lot of comment in the media following the publication of the divorce settlement in the case of McCartney v Mills, and without exception, Ms. Mills has been on a hiding to nothing.
For those contemplating a wholesale raid on their spouses’ assets when love, and reason, fly out the window, there […]

I read the Court of Appeal judgment this morning in the case of Smith v Chief Constable of Sussex Police, proof, if proof be needed, that I do occasionally read The Times Law Reports. For the uninitiated, they can be found after “Obituaries” and before “Court Circular.”
This was the appalling case of the claimant who […]

Straying from the domestic agenda for a moment or three, I recently read a report of the judgment from the Italian Court of Cassation, which, as the Europhiles amongst you will know, is their highest court, so not to be dismissed lightly.
According to the report, the Court of Cassation has ruled that Italian mistresses cannot […]

I’ve been away for a week’s well earned R & R in the Algarve, so I hope you’ve managed without me. The weather was sublime for this time of the year, and a welcome break away from the doom and gloom of dreary Olde England.
As I was waiting in the departure lounge, my eye caught […]