one rule for us ...

[ramtops]

so ... those arrested yesterday on suspicion of trying to blow up bombs have had their assets frozen. And the Bank of England has published their names on its web site. Amongst them is

PATEL, Abdul, Muneem
DOB: 17/04/1989
Address: London, E5

by my calculation, he is 17. And this confirms my thought that Section 44 of the 1999 Act (if brought into force in full) would automatically prevent reporting of any matter which might lead the public to identify a person under 18 as a potential defendant, victim or witness as soon as a criminal investigation has begun.

so this boy surely should be afforded the same protection.

Comments

[budleysalterton.livejournal.com]

and you've improved things by repeating his name how precisely ?

[loveandgarbage.livejournal.com]

I agree, although criminal procedure isn't my area.

It is interesting the way the details of the names have been released - the freezing of bank accounts allows quite a lot of information to be revealed where ordinarily we would expect the usual "a 25 year old is helping police with their enquiries" or "a 25 year old was arrested". Already on the BBC this morning Victoria Derbyshire has read out a number of names from the Bank of England list with the caveat that the names weren't provided by the police but are available from the Bank of England. So, why release them? If the police aren't revealing names to the media surely there must be a reason.

[ramtops.livejournal.com]

the names are in every online newspaper I've seen, and on BBC News - I rather doubt this quiet little corner of the interweb that is my LJ will make any difference.

[ramtops.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to do a bit more digging, and write to my MP and ask him to enquire of the Home Office.

[mort666.livejournal.com]

It does seem a little odd that this qurk exists. I suspect it has something to do with the action being taken under what was originally a UN Order? Either way this could be potentially prejudicial to any legal case that may be brought for a someone who is a minor.

Tho, I doubt you could be tried as a minor for terrorism, so the person would be tried as an adult and then the point wouldn't matter as the restriction would be lifted (I think if memory serves, the two killers of Jeremy Bulger where tried as adults therefore it was possible for the press to publish their names).

Mind you any case would probably be done behind closed doors on this anyways.

[loveandgarbage.livejournal.com]

With the Bulger case the children were not named until after the verdict. The judge issued an order allowing them to be named. This only followed a petition by the Mirror Group after the jury retired in the case. MGN had bought the rights to the story of a child allegedly subject to an earlier kidnap attempt that day. (Described in Blake Morrison's As If at pp 225 - 6. Morrison is (as I was at the time) uncomfortable about this, wondering what useful purpose was served by it.)

[mort666.livejournal.com]

Ahh, I could have sworn that at the time they where named up front. Mind you my memory is not what is was.

Either way, I realised after I posted that before the 1999 Act obviously came in after the Bulger case and probably changed anything that happened before.

It seems the publication of these names stired up something in Westminster today, but it seems they had to publish the names under the UN Sanctions that the money is seized under or else it seems that they would not be able to prosecute anyone that actually attempted to access the assets seized.