Issue 465  29th August 2026

New “restriction zones” will allow probation services in England and Wales to severely limit where some of the most dangerous offenders can go for as long as they see fit - restricting their freedom while giving it back to victims. The first measure of its kind anywhere in the world, the new restrictions have been directly shaped by the experiences and campaigning of victims, who will have a say in how individual zones are drawn up...

The new scheme is a more rigorous version of “exclusion zones”, which ban offenders from specific locations such as a victim’s home or place of work. Offenders can instead be confined to a tightly defined area, giving victims greater freedom to travel without the fear of unexpectedly coming face-to-face with their offender. Offenders subject to GPS monitoring can have their movements tracked around the clock, allowing probation to identify breaches and take swift action when the rules are broken - including recalling them to prison. Probation officers will draw up zones which will put victims first, giving them the freedom to go about their daily lives without fear, but ensure offenders can still access vital appointments and services that help to reduce their chances of reoffending...

The UK is joining forces with the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to crack down on global fraud networks and protect the public from scammers. At the Five Country Ministerial in Sydney, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and her Five Eyes counterparts backed a package of UK-led measures to strengthen the international response to fraud and online scams, bringing together governments, law enforcement and industry to tackle one of the world’s fastest-growing crimes. The need for a more co-ordinated international response has grown as organised crime groups become increasingly sophisticated, exploiting global communications networks, digital platforms and financial systems to target victims across borders...

New measures will strengthen partners’ ability to detect and disrupt fraud before more people become victims. This includes faster intelligence-sharing to identify fraud operations spanning multiple countries, including scam centres, and coordinated action between governments, law enforcement and industry to shut down the accounts, services and communications channels criminals use to target victims and move their profits. As part of this work, recommendations to strengthen industry action against online scams and financial crime will be developed in partnership with telecommunications providers, technology companies and financial institutions. The focus will be on tackling vulnerabilities in systems and services that criminals exploit to target victims and move illicit funds. By improving collaboration between the public and private sectors, partners will be better able to identify new threats, respond more quickly and make it harder for criminals to profit from fraud...

The Justice Secretary is confident two of the killers of Pc Andrew Harper will be barred from early release from prison, police chiefs have been told. Alex Norris will announce changes to the early release scheme next week that will exclude prisoners guilty of the type of manslaughter for which the pair were convicted in 2020. Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were jailed for 13 years for the manslaughter of Pc Harper, 28, who was dragged for more than a mile behind their car after he responded to reports of a theft near Sulhamstead, Berkshire. The Telegraph revealed last month that they were among 6,000 criminals eligible for release either halfway through their sentence, rather than the usual two-thirds, or after serving one third rather than 40 per cent of their prison terms...

Police chiefs have been told Mr Norris plans to introduce secondary legislation – a mechanism to change existing laws quickly – to enact the changes, which are likely to cover manslaughter, rape and child grooming. They are expected to exempt “unlawful act” manslaughter, where a person causes the death of another while committing an illegal act...

The government’s £34m funding plan to bolster the barrister workforce within the criminal legal aid sector will benefit men more than women and undermine the government’s mission to tackle violence against women and girls, representative groups have warned. The Ministry of Justice’s plan for carving up the cash, which was announced last December, includes a 30% fee uplift for guilty pleas but no increase to the daily fee for attending trials that last more than a day...

The Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association point out in their consultation responses that guilty pleas are less common in cases involving rape and serious sexual offences and these trials are often done by female barristers. By contrast, guilty pleas are common in drug offences and these trials are often done by male barristers. The Bar Council said women barristers who do back-to-back RASSO trials would not benefit from a guilty plea fee increase 'and would suffer' from no increase to the daily attendance fee...

The Bar Council and CBA are fuming that the fee increases would apply only to new instructions after the revised rates come into force. With cases in the 80,000-strong backlog being listed into 2029, they say barristers will not feel the benefits of the uplifts for years and note that the Legal Aid Agency was able to apply fee increases to ongoing cases following a 2022 funding settlement. They are also unimpressed that some of the £34m, which includes VAT, is beng used to resolve a spending shortfall from that settlement...