tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110794854146484721.post6630682048686922238..comments2024-03-28T09:08:50.733+00:00Comments on Law and Lawyers: Children and the law: No.1 - The Edlington CaseObiterJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04544226917595022902noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110794854146484721.post-79022624408179672862010-01-24T12:40:21.433+00:002010-01-24T12:40:21.433+00:00Yes, I appreciate what you say, and the judge no d...Yes, I appreciate what you say, and the judge no doubt felt he had sufficient information available to him from other sources, I expect that the PSRs were very comprehensive, but nevertheless he had requested the report, and I surprised that the Doncaster Safeguarding Children Board felt able to refuse that request. I presume that the defence wanted to try to shift some of the blame away from their client, perhaps a forlorn hope, but an attempt they were entitles to make, I think.Chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110794854146484721.post-46762755581859191902010-01-24T11:35:14.054+00:002010-01-24T11:35:14.054+00:00Chris - thanks for the comment. According to this ...Chris - thanks for the comment. According to <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6997640.ece" rel="nofollow">this article</a> which appeared in The Times, an application was made to the judge to seek disclosure of the full serious case review report. It was defence counsel for one of the boys who made the application and, again according to The Times article, it was argued that the report would show that there was a causal link between the failings of the care authorities and the violence which took place.<br /><br />We have no further information about this particular application. Nevertheless, it seems that the judge must have requested the report but was refused it.<br /><br />From what I can see, the judge appeared to be content with this situation. He had pre-sentence reports which, these days, are very detailed and would include information about the home circumstances of the boys, the offences and a detailed assessment of the risk posed by the boys. These reports also contain sentencing recommendations. The judge also had psychiatric reports on each of the boys. The judge probably concluded that he had more than enough material to enable him to finalise the case.<br /><br />We should also note the point that, in this criminal case, it was not for the judge to seek to apportion blame for anything the care authorities had either done or omitted to do.<br /><br />Now that the question of publication of the full serious case review reports has got into the political arena, I suspect that will hear more of it in the future. Also, the issue could well arise if there were to be any civil proceedings against the local authority brought by the families of the victims. Such an action might be possible these days but it would be wiser to leave that to one side for now.ObiterJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04544226917595022902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110794854146484721.post-19793202216432717542010-01-23T22:41:34.608+00:002010-01-23T22:41:34.608+00:00What I found rather perverse was that the Serious ...What I found rather perverse was that the Serious Case Review in the Edlington case was not made available to the judge, who had requested it. This is a rather different matter to making it public.Chrisnoreply@blogger.com