Identifying the Legal Issue That Is Presented in the Articles - Annotated Bibliography Example

Introduction In this assignment, six selected articles from newspapers will be discussed in legal terms. The task will involve reading through the articles and then identifying the legal issue that is presented in the article. Thereafter, the law that relates to the legal issue that will be discussed and then applied to the scenario being discussed in the article which after will lead to a conclusion based on the argument presented. Three of the articles are related to fraud while the other three articles are touching on matters to do with insanity and the difference that exists between insane automatism and non-insane automatism. The overall purpose is to reach a conclusion on the accuracy of press reports that touch on legal matters while pointing out various reasons for inaccuracies that occur. Articles On fraud ARTICLE ONE: Report (author unnamed), ‘Jail for Sainsbury's IT boss who stole 17 million Nectar Points’ (Daily Mail On-Line, 15 January 2011) The legal issue is whether James Stevenson is guilty of fraud by abuse of position and false representation. Under the UK rules, fraud by false representation refers to a situation where a person makes a false representation either by intent or being dishonest in the process for personal gains. A representation is defined as being false if the person making it knows that it is true and misleading. In other case, fraud may be by a person failing to disclose information by intent through dishonest means for personal gains. The other part is fraud by abuse of position in which the person involved misuses his position for his personal gain. In the article, James Stevenson has pleaded guilty of an account of fraud in the IT firm where he worked by adding nectar points to his card which he later used to purchase things and access services. The judge also refers to him as having used his office to represent himself falsely. Application to the case above In the case that is presented in the article, James Stevens is guilty of one account of fraud namely fraud by abuse of position. Stevens used his position where he had access to all the activities that involve the use of cards, which was run by a third party, to benefit from services that were being offered by use of the card. This is evidenced by the amount of items that he purchased using the card despite his denial of the figures that have been presented in court. Conclusion The reporting was not accurately done because in the article, an impression is created that Stevens was sent to jail because of having just added the amount of nectar points to his card. This scenario points out the inaccuracies in the reporting of legal affairs. ARTICLE 2: Kerry McQueeeney, ‘Policeman stole £70,000 in banks fraud to fund affair with fellow officer... but walks free from court’ (Daily Mail On-Line 22 February 2012) PC Jamie Hillman who stole over £70,000 from banks in loans to fund an extra marital affair walked out of court freely as the judge declared him of being emotionally fragile. The Bristol court acquitted him after he claimed that he had amnesia when conducting all these activities. The legal question is whether the court was justified to acquit the defendant on the grounds that he presented. In the fraud act 2006 of the UK, it is illegal to obtain services or commodities by means of false representation and dishonest means and any culprit is supposed to be imprisoned for a period that is not more than 12 months or to a fine that exceeds the statutory amount that he or she might have received. On conviction on indictment, the person is supposed to be jailed for a period of 5 years, fined or both. In the above case PC Jamie Hillman is guilty of obtaining financial services from several banks in the UK through use of dishonest means. He lied that he was a military officer who was serving in Afghanistan and at some point that he was a metropolitan police. While pleading guilty, he said that he was under amnesia when he was carrying out all these activities and that the judge recognized that he had become used to lying. However, the judge handed him a 12 month jail term a two years suspension as required by the law. The press once again in this article misrepresented facts by claiming that the policeman who had stolen large amounts of money from banks had walked scot free. PC Jamie Hillman was convicted of crimes and punished for the same as required by the law. However, having been brave and admitted that he did this under amnesia, he was not indicted. ARTICLE 3: Editorial comment, ‘School catchment area 'fraud' case dropped against mother’ (Daily Telegraph, 3 July 2009) Mrs. Mrinal Patel, aged 41, is faced with one account of false representation by providing false information concerning her residence in order to secure a place for her kid in a popular school in Northern London. However, she is set free by a court decision after saying that she was staying with her mother at the time she applied for the school position. Section 2 of the Fraud act of 2006 states that it is a crime make a false representation of self either through dishonesty or by knowing that the representation was misleading. In the above case, Mrs. Mrinal Patel gave information that was misleading concerning his place of residence with an aim of gaining by securing a space for her son at a popular London school. The decision of the court was reached upon her saying that she had no intentions of going back to the matrimonial home by the time she was carrying out the application. The editorial commentary misrepresented the legal facts in the article because it portrayed the scenario as if the mother had just walked scot free after the court decision. The situation in which the mother found herself in is recognized by the court because by the time she was applying for her son’s position in the school, she had no intentions of lying but gave what was the truth by that time. On Insanity ARTICLE 4:Charlotte Gill and Daniel Bates, ‘Student tried to murder his father minutes after being released from hospital complaining of panic attacks’ (Daily Mail On-Line, 16 June 2008) Both the prosecution and the defense in the case involving Jack Archer, a university dropout who attempted to murder his father Ian are asking the jury to return a verdict of not being guilty by insanity. The legal question is whether Jack Archer who dropped out of University because of being depressed and paranoia and had previously reported in hospital complaining of panic attack is not guilty by insanity. In criminal trials, a defendant may argue that he or she is not guilty because of having a problem with his or her mental health status. In the UK, a defendant who is found to be guilty by insanity may be given a special verdict by the court under the trial of lunatics of act of 1883 and the criminal procedure act of 1964. Insanity that is associated with the time of trial must be proved by applying the M’Naghten rule where it must be established that the defendant was suffering from the insanity at the time that he or she committed the offense. In the case above, it can be established that the defendant had a history of mental illness that even caused him to drop out of the University. On the day that he attempted to kill his father, he was from a second trip to the hospital where he had been complaining of panic attack that was bothering him. The court therefore needs to grant him a special verdict based on not being guilty by insanity. The legal reporting in the story in this article was done accurately. Authors remained neutral and only presented facts about the case that is before court. All circumstances that surround the defendant were properly highlighted in the article and no biasness can be detected. ARTICLE 5: Tom Kelly, ‘Stalker who bombarded model Sophie Anderton with 'alarming and distressing' texts avoids jail’ (Daily Mail On-Line, 26 March 2010) In the case that was reported in this article, the legal question is whether Paul Davis, a 59 year old man is guilty harassment via text message and phone calls to model Sophie Anderton. Although at the time of the incidence he was making a recovery, Paul Davis quit his previous job after nervous breakdown and was at some point convicted of stalking her ex-girlfriend. By the time she was sending the text messages, Davis had not taken his medicine and was in manic places. He also admits of having suffered from bipolar disorder. The law requires that there be proof that the action that was committed was as a result of the insanity. In non-insane automatism, the cause of action must be due to a fact that is external to the defendant. The defendant can be set free if the action was as a result of insane automatism and non-insane automatism. Davis in this case is not guilty as a result of non – insane automatism in that the manic environment that he was in and having not taken his medication caused him to send messages that harassed Sophie Anderton. The jury therefore deserves the right to give him a special verdict on such consideration. ARTICLE 6: Jane Perrone, ‘Sleepwalker cleared of murdering father’ (The Guardian, 19th March 2005) The main legal issue in the story that was reported in the article was whether Jules Lowes was guilty of murder or not since the court had set him free on the ground that he was sleepwalking when he killed his 83 year old father. In laws concerning insanity in the UK, a person can be given a special type of verdict if the actions that he or she committed were due to involuntary forces within him. In a scenario involving automatism, actions such as sleep walking can be described as being involuntary. Jules Lowes killed his father when he was sleepwalking and evidence from hospital had been sought. In addition, he reported to his defense lawyer that he had been sleepwalking when he committed the crime hence deserved a special kind of verdict from the jury. The case in the article involves matters of insanity whereby the court recognized sleepwalking as one of the major involuntary forces that can cause an individual to act contrary to the law. References Report (author unnamed), ‘Jail for Sainsbury's IT boss who stole 17 million Nectar Points’ (Daily Mail On-Line, 15 January 2011) Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347420/Sainsburys-IT-boss-James-Stevenson-stole-17m-Nectar-points-jailed.html Kerry McQueeeney, ‘Policeman stole £70,000 in banks fraud to fund affair with fellow officer... but walks free from court’ (Daily Mail On-Line 22 February 2012) Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2104132/Policeman-guilty-70-000-fraud-fund-affair-fellow-officer-walks-free-court.html Editorial comment, ‘School catchment area 'fraud' case dropped against mother’ (Daily Telegraph, 3 July 2009) Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/5730062/School-catchment-area-fraud-case-dropped-against-mother.html Charlotte Gill and Daniel Bates, ‘Student tried to murder his father minutes after being released from hospital complaining of panic attacks’ (Daily Mail On-Line, 16 June 2008) Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1026888/Student-tried-murder-father-minutes-released-hospital-complaining-panic-attacks.html Tom Kelly, ‘Stalker who bombarded model Sophie Anderton with 'alarming and distressing' texts avoids jail’ (Daily Mail On-Line, 26 March 2010) Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1260583/Sophie-Anderton-stalker-Paul-Davis-escapes-jail.html Jane Perrone, ‘Sleepwalker cleared of murdering father’ ((The Guardian, 19th March 2005) Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/mar/19/janeperrone?INTCMP=SRCH Fraud etc Act 2006 (Auk 2) Criminal procedure act 1964 (Auk 1) Read More