News and Knowledge

Transgender hate crime hits record high

According to recent Home Office figures, transgender hate crime rose in the 2022-2023 period.   Conversely, the report also recorded that racist and homophobic hate crimes had fallen for the first time on record. The rise in transgender hate crime overall equates to 11%, totalling 4,723 cases recorded.     Racist hate crimes fell by…

Serial rapist in Metropolitan Police admits to numerous offences spanning over two decades

David Carrick first joined the Metropolitan Police Force in 2001 at age 26. Within the first year, Carrick had already been investigated by his own colleagues within the Met in relation to the assault and harassment of an ex-partner.   From here Carrick’s behaviour worsened and his crimes only increased in severity as, between 2002…

Extra stop and search powers given to police after knife attack at The Springs Retail Park, Leeds

On 09/12/2022, West Yorkshire Police were called to an incident at The Springs Retail Park – Colton after receiving reports of a man entering a shop armed with a knife.   The areas between H&M and JD Sports were cordoned off by Police after they found 2 men injured; one with stab wounds to his…

Street harassment and safety for women and girls

Following the tragic deaths of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, multiple organisations have desperately reached out to the government to put more serious measures in place to protect women and girls.   Earlier this year, we saw the cases of non-fatal strangulation being included as specific crimes relating to domestic violence under the Serious Crime…

Leeds Women’s Aid 50th Anniversary celebration – Here’s what I learnt

Leeds Women’s Aid was founded in 1972 by a group of feminist activists, and their first refuge consisted of two broken down houses in Burley.   At the time of setting the charity up, it was still legal in the UK for men to rape their wives. Hosted in Millennium Square on 06/10/2022, the 50th anniversary…

Rejected Manchester bombing CICA claims

Recent statistics have shown that nearly half (44.67%) of applications submitted to the CICA in relation to the 2017 Manchester bombing were rejected.   This means that 331 out of 741 applications have been denied compensation – with 97 cases still currently pending. Many would be surprised by these statistics, as the rejection rate for…

Review on Unspent Convictions

BBC Three documentary The Man Who Used HIV as a Weapon (2019) highlighted the story of the first man convicted in the UK for deliberately spreading HIV.   The assailant, Darryl Rowe, was charged in 2018 with a life sentence after infecting nine men with the disease. Under the CICA Scheme, victims of this specific…

Non-fatal strangulation cases

Non-fatal strangulation laws, introduced in June 2022, apply to cases where an assailant intentionally strangles or suffocates a victim.   New laws will apply to abusers, specifically in cases of domestic abuse where partners attempt to control or frighten their partners by affecting the victim’s ability to breathe (gov.uk, June 2022).     In a…

Face Equality Week 2022

The 16th – 20th May 2022 marks this year’s face equality week with the theme being staring.   The aim of this week is to raise awareness and educate people about how staring is a problematic behaviour and one that many people who have facial marks, scars or conditions feel negatively effects their mental health.…

Chiswick man stabbed in serious assault

At 23:20 on Saturday 19th February, a 40-year-old man was stabbed multiple times at a pub in Chiswick.   Since this attack, two men have been connected to the incident with the Metropolitan Police recently releasing their photographs with the hopes that someone will be able to provide any information as to their whereabouts. The…