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Sentencing – Road traffic offences – 'Tailgating' – Sentence discounting. Sheriff Appeal Court: Refusing an appeal by an appellant who was charged with dangerous driving but at the trial diet offered a plea of guilty to driving without due care and attention which the prosecutor accepted, and was fined £225 and had his licence endorsed with 8 penalty points, the court, having categorised the appellant's driving, (which the sheriff had properly described as 'tailgating') as at the very top end of the careless scale, held that the sentence imposed was lenient, not excessive as the appellant claimed, and that the sheriff had not erred in not discounting the penalty points: arguably, he had given the appellant a generously discounted penalty by declining to disqualify and by restricting the penalty points imposed for reasons which unduly favoured the appellant.
Sentencing – Road traffic offences – 'Tailgating' – Sentence discounting. Sheriff Appeal Court: Refusing an appeal by an appellant who was charged with dangerous driving but at the trial diet offered a plea of guilty to driving without due care and attention which the prosecutor accepted, and was fined £225 and had his licence endorsed with 8 penalty points, the court, having categorised the appellant's driving, (which the sheriff had properly described as 'tailgating') as at the very top end of the careless scale, held that the sentence imposed was lenient, not excessive as the appellant claimed, and that the sheriff had not erred in not discounting the penalty points: arguably, he had given the appellant a generously discounted penalty by declining to disqualify and by restricting the penalty points imposed for reasons which unduly favoured the appellant.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, discusses what family law professionals need to know about hallucinogens, from the main hallucinogenic drugs encountered in family proceedings, to their effects and the testing options available
Harmony Christian Ministries is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Developing a tech start-up demands a different definition of excellence to the Bar, says Saara Idelbi. The co-creator of Advocatr on entrepreneurship, AI advocacy training, and matching the thrill of a killer cross-examination
At the start of her term, Chair of the Bar 2026 Kirsty Brimelow KC set out a series of priorities for the year ahead. One of those priorities was children in the justice system
As the world becomes more digital, Barbara Vinagre Mota examines international research into the mental health consequences of judges’ exposure to graphic and immersive evidence, highlighting the importance of support systems
Reviewed by Daniel Barnett
James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain until 27 September Rothko in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi until 23 August Reviewed by Stephen Cragg KC
