By Kevin Donoghue, Solicitor Advocate and Founding Director at Donoghue Solicitors I have spent the best part of 25 years holding police forces to account for the force they use against the public. My successful clients include Edwin Afriyie, who won his case at the Court of Appeal after being unlawfully tasered by a City… Read more »
Did Wayne Couzens’ Shocking Crimes Change Policing?
By Kevin Donoghue, Solicitor Advocate and Founding Director at Donoghue Solicitors It’s been five years since Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens brutally raped and murdered Sarah Everard. This week, the ITV News Calendar programme reported on how police forces deal with abuse of authority for sexual gain within their ranks and what, if any, improvements… Read more »
Abuse is Not in a Day’s Work
By Daniel Fitzsimmons, Director and Chartered Legal Executive Warning: this blog post contains offensive language. Like every workplace, we deal with abuse occasionally, albeit rarely. Sometimes it’s over the phone. Other times in emails. Very rarely in person, probably because “keyboard warrior” bullies tend to lose their confidence face-to-face. An example of the kind of… Read more »
Five Things I Learned at the Court of Appeal
Richard Clayton KC, David Hughes, Barrister, Edwin Afriyie, Claimant, and Kevin Donoghue, Solicitor Advocate stand outside the Royal Courts of Justice after appearing before the Court of Appeal on 8 October 2024.By Kevin Donoghue, Solicitor Advocate This week I attended the Court of Appeal with my client Edwin Afriyie to seek to overturn an unfavourable… Read more »
How police ignore guidance on outcomes in police misconduct proceedings
By Kevin Donoghue, solicitor Last week the College of Policing issued a new document: “Guidance on outcomes in police misconduct proceedings”. The College, which issued the guidance, describes itself as “the professional body for everyone who works for the police service in England and Wales. Our purpose is to provide those working in policing with… Read more »
Was Simon Brodkin Wrongfully Arrested for a Breach of the Peace?
By Kevin Donoghue, solicitor It’s fair to say that Theresa May’s speech at the Conservative party conference last week was farcical. Not only did she suffer persistent coughing, but letters on the sign behind her fell off the wall, giving quick-witted viewers the chance to mock her with social media memes. I had to draw… Read more »
In Praise of Appraisals
By Kevin Donoghue, Solicitor Director of Donoghue Solicitors Most of the time I write on my firm’s blog about actions against the police, news and politics, and legal issues. This is not one of those times. Today I want to talk about: the team we have here at Donoghue Solicitors, how staff appraisals bring out the best… Read more »
Why Facial Recognition Technology is Another Home Office Failure
By Kevin Donoghue, solicitor Last week I asked why the Home Office was ignoring spit hoods, allowing individual police forces to roll them out on a piecemeal basis. (TL;DR it’s inexcusable, and people are being injured, or worse, as a result.) Another issue the government seems unwilling, or unable, to deal with is Facial Recognition… Read more »
Why is the Government’s CAST Department Ignoring Spit Hoods?
CAUTION: THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS COARSE LANGUAGE By Kevin Donoghue, solicitor I was recently interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds about West Yorkshire Police’s roll out of spit hoods to front-line officers. You can listen to the interview on BBC iPlayer (fast forward through to 2 hours 6 minutes 50 seconds) or hear it below: Before… Read more »
Why We All Benefit When People Bring Claims Against the Police
By Kevin Donoghue, Solicitor Director of Donoghue Solicitors I recently wrote about why people bring claims against the police. Compensation is less important for many victims of police misconduct, especially when compared to: restoring their reputations correcting inaccurate police records/ destruction of DNA etc. which could impact on future job prospects/ parental access rights etc…. Read more »
