Harpist guilty of handling stolen goods

Jemima Phillips, official harpist to Prince Charles, was found guilty of handling stolen goods at Gloucester Crown Court today, having already admitted fraud. Apparently the cause of her offending is drug-related.

She has been told that a prison sentence is likely, and was granted Bail until the sentencing hearing. Story on video from the BBC here.
Questions for AS students:
1. Who will have decided her guilt?
2. What grounds for appeal are open to her?
3. Would you have given her bail or not, and why?
4. What do you consider an appropriate sentence to be, and why?

The hazards of granting bail...

Great post here on the Magistrate's Blog about the difficult decisions facing Magistrates when deciding whether or not to grant Bail. Have a read!

In this case, the accused was in court on charges of threatening to kill his former partner. He was granted bail on condition that he did not approach her or go near her home.

As AS Law students will know, bail may only be refused if there are substantial grounds that the accused would: re-offend, fail to surrender to bail, or interfere with witnesses, or be refused bail for his own protection.

In this case, no such grounds were present. Bail was granted. The accused then went out and, it is alleged, stabbed his former partner to death.

Magistrated do not have a crystal ball, and must apply the law on the evidence in front of them. One AO2 criticism of the law on bail is that the accused will sometimes offend whilst out on bail - sometimes with tragic consequences like these.

Of course, the media then put the boot in - like this.

Bail

Have a look at CJS Online for a good (if basic) explanation of the bail process. It's a good site for simple explanations of the criminal process generally.

Gratuitous celebrity link: here's a pic of Naomi Campbell attending a bail hearing in May this year! (She was granted bail but ended up with 200 hours community service for assault - no one is above the law!)

Also, have a look at the Bail (Amendment) Act 1993 - this gave the prosecution the right to appeal against a decision to grant a defendant bail for the first time.