UK Blogs

Another victim: SOPHIE LANCASTER "Sophie, 20, was booted in the face and left in a coma as she tried to protect Robert Maltby, 21, during the totally unprovoked attack in a park. The couple were so badly beaten that medics and police could not tell which was which as they lay side by side unconscious in a pool of blood." Another victim: DAVID MORLEY "Mr Whitehead described lying on the pavement and putting his hands around his head while he was kicked and punched in the ribs and head. He told...Read Full Story

A lot of women if they can seek to have financial disputes on divorce determined in England. Perhaps, they fail to take account of the "ruinous costs" that can be incurred in this jurisdiction. Mr Justice Munby has had yet another go at the level of costs sometimes spent in financial disputes in England. I say "yet another go" because Munby J does seem to get more than his fair share of this type of case. In the title link case, KSO v MJO (8th December, 2008) he says: Something must be done...Read Full Story

St Paul's Cathedral ... Exactly 530 stairs and 111m to take you to the top with a three-stage journey: - some 30m and precisely 259 steps above to reach the interior walkway around the dome's base; this is the Whispering Gallery , so called because if you talk close to the wall it really does carry your words around to the opposite side, 32m away. - climbing another 119 steps you reach the Stone Gallery, which is an exterior viewing platform, with 360-degree views of London, all of which are...Read Full Story

These 3 photos were taken at Wrynose Pass , Lake District National Park in England. The Wrynose pass is a mountain pass between the Duddon Valley and Little Langdale that reaches an altitude of 393m. At the top of the Wrynose Pass is the Three Shire Stone, marking the meeting point of the historic counties of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland. Wrynose is part of the old Roman road named the 10th iter. It served the troops stationed at Hardknott Fort, and bits of the old road remain...Read Full Story

This is the extraordinary case of RP v Nottingham City Council . It is a child care case and, as previous posts make clear, I do not believe that these are always handled correctly. That is not the focus here. John Hemming MP has engaged in a totally misjudged and ill-considered attack on the professional integrity of solicitors, barristers, social workers and experts. Lord Justice Thorpe has administered a thoroughly justified rebuke. In my view the Court of Appeal judgment calls into...Read Full Story

There has been a lack of posts this month despite my unending resolutions to post more often for my dwindling audience of one; me. The audience is dwindling because I just write into the ether without much bothering to read the result. Gosh, this site is turning into therapy. However, I have a better excuse this time. I have spent two spells in hospital recently. I will not bore you with the details but they involved lots of drips into my veins and trying to enable me to eat again. It is the...Read Full Story

I liked today's joke so I am putting it in this post so that it can still be available when it changes (as it does daily making the site worth a visit even if I have not posted - scroll down the right sidebar): A little girl asked her mother, "How did the human race come about?" The Mother answered, "God made Adam and Eve; they had children and, so all mankind was made." A few days later, the little girl asked her father the same question. The father answered, "Many years ago there were...Read Full Story

Rampton Hospital is a high security psychiatric hospital in the UK. It is an alternative for prison where a criminal is insane. Residents or former residents applied in this case to be exempted from no-smoking regulations. For instance, "normal" prisoners are exempt and can smoke in their cells. Certain persons suffering an acute psychiatric state can be exempted at mental health hospitals. The rules for this are, however, so bizarre that they probably make the exemption pretty worthless to...Read Full Story

David Masters, the Wiltshire coroner, today joins the list of heroic coroners (headed by Andrew Walker ) who are prepared to say to government and the military: "UP WITH THIS WE WILL NOT PUT" Samples from the coroner's findings as reported in today's London Times : "The system in place failed the captain and crew of that aircraft and this should never be allowed to happen again." "The stance taken by the US is difficult to comprehend." "I just wonder, as an aside, what if the boot had been on...Read Full Story

THE JUDGES I admit that I was addicted to The Great British Menu. What attracted me was not, however, the cooking. I loved the cooking. I wish the winners would come around to my house and cook me the winning dishes. Something impressed me more than the cooking. These chefs were engaged in a heavy competitive exercise. It was just as competitive as a high level sport. Yet, they HELPED each other. If one of them experienced a difficulty, THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMEONE WHO WOULD HELP THEM. These guys...Read Full Story