Six weeks ago I arrived back in London after my first trip to Australia. It felt considerably colder than the 34 degrees we’d left behind in Sydney, but the skies were clear and blue. Or were they? My…
How prevalent is the use of lethal force by police in Australia, and is a disturbing trend developing in Queensland?
AAP/Dave Hunt
Over the weekend, Queensland police shot and killed a 51-year-old man who was allegedly armed with a knife. On Monday night, another man was shot and killed on the Gold Coast. It was the sixth Queensland…
The podcast Serial investigates the murder of 18-year-old American student Hae Min Lee 15 years ago.
LukaTDB/Shutterstock
Can you recall what you were doing last Wednesday between 2.15pm and 2.36pm? Where were you? What did you see? Who did you talk to? How well do you remember those 21 minutes? Now try to recall Wednesday…
If cyber-crime is the tier one (most serious) threat that we are told it is, and we are experiencing upwards of 2-3 million cyber-threats each year, then why have we only had 350 or so prosecutions under…
Three policemen died in the incident that led to Roberts’ sentence.
PA
The news that Harry Roberts is to be released from prison – potentially within days – has been greeted with outrage among the police. But after 48 years in prison, it’s time the knee-jerk reactions stopped…
Roll up, roll up for your free money.
Kaspersky Lab
How safe is Microsoft Windows? After all, the list of malware that has caused major headaches worldwide over the last 15 years is long – viruses, worms and Trojans have forced computers to shut down, knocked…
The painting of the Sistine Chapel was an exercise in logistics, which can be analysed for insights into who and what was involved in its creation. The same goes for any crime requiring some organisation.
EPA
Mention the word “logistics” and most people would probably think of trucks or the shipping of freight at a mundane best. A more textbook definition might be that logistics is the managed movement of resources…
Despite enormous economic growth over the past 200 years, developed and developing countries alike are failing to tackle crime and environmental problems, a major report from the OECD has concluded. The…
The Old Bailey’s Central Criminal Court is an Edwardian building that bears the inscription “Defend the children of the poor and Punish the wrongdoer.” An Italian visitor more than 100 years ago suggested…
A Ripper murder, Illustrated Police news, c. 1888.
A panic erupted in Britain 126 years ago. At daybreak on Saturday September 8, the mutilated body of Annie Chapman, a prostitute, had been found in the back yard of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields. Her…
Two violent incidents in London have ended in two very different outcomes for police suspects.
Lewis Whyld/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Two violent incidents, a murder and a home invasion, took place just a few miles apart in North London last week. In both cases, armed police were sent to the scene but to very different ends. At the first…
Better brush up on your sleuthing skills.
Casey Fleser
An alarming report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has revealed that some police forces have simply given up investigating some types of crime, instead calling on the general public to…
How was the anti-bikie strategy in Queensland framed, and what has it achieved so far?
AAP/Dean Lewins
Queensland’s bikie crackdown and its associated legislative measures have polarised public opinion on the necessity and success of this approach. So with a High Court challenge to the new laws due to be…
Proportionality in sentencing cannot be achieved through mandatory sentences created as a result of an overreaction to community fear and outrage.
AAP/Dave Hunt
The Victorian government’s introduction of the Sentencing Amendment (Coward’s Punch Manslaughter and Other Matters) Bill 2014 this week has again sparked debate about the deterrence value and general utility…
Theresa May is leading a review of government policy on domestic abuse.
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire/Press Association Images
This week’s no-brainer award goes to the UK Home Office - an accolade it has surely won many times before. A new consultation has been launched to see whether the law on domestic violence should match…
Cutting sentences would take little more than political will.
Ian Nicholson/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Alarm is spreading once again about the state of UK prisons, with reports that more than 15,000 assaults were committed by prisoners in 2013-14. Justice minister Chris Grayling might be quick to argue…
Protesters campaign against the death penalty in Rabat, Morocco.
Abdelhak Senna/EPA
Half a century ago, Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans were hanged for the murder of John West. Nobody knew it at the time, but they were to be the last people to be executed in the UK. The 50th anniversary…
Until recently, violence against women was not reported prominently or consistently by mainstream media. Why not?
Dave Malkoff
Did the grim story of dapper real estate agent Gerard Baden-Clay’s calculated murder of his wife Allison in April 2012, played out recently in a Brisbane court with a life sentence, make you feel afraid…
Gerard Baden-Clay’s murder of his wife Allison has helped put the spectre of domestic violence firmly back in the national spotlight. How prevalent is it?
AAP/Dan Peled
Once a hidden crime, domestic violence has in recent years emerged as a mainstream criminal justice issue in Australia. Cases such as Queensland man Gerard Baden-Clay’s murder of his wife Allison and the…
A new production of Medea recently opened at London’s National Theatre to critical acclaim. This is a Medea definitively set in the modern era: the production opens with two little boys watching television…