Expert witnesses lose 400-year-old immunity.

Anyone involved in a court related issue (might even be property, planning applications, commercial, divorce, child custody, criminal or civil) might like to print out, carefully save this item and show it to your solicitor or legal adviser. It has a very important bearing on all that we do and seems to have been overlooked by ALL the main news providers!

Expert witnesses have lost their immunity from being sued over matters arising in the course of proceedings, following a landmark ruling in the Supreme Court.

By a majority of five to two, the Supreme Court removed the 400-year-old protection that gave expert witnesses immunity from suit for breach of duty whether in contract or negligence, in relation to their participation in legal proceedings.

The decision, in Jones v Kaney [2001] UKSC 13, overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling in Stanton v Callaghan [2000] QB 75, in which expert immunity was upheld. In the case before the Supreme Court, the appellant had sought to bring a personal injury claim after being injured in a road traffic accident.

His solicitors instructed a clinical psychologist to prepare a report on his psychiatric injuries. She reported that the appellant was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The defendant in that action admitted liability, but disputed the amount of damages, with their expert claiming that the appellant was exaggerating his symptoms of PTSD.

The district judge ordered the two experts to hold discussions and prepare a joint statement. The appellant’s expert changed her view and signed a joint statement in which she agreed that the appellant had not suffered PTSD and that she had found him to be deceitful in his reporting. This was so damaging to the claim that the appellant settled for a lower sum than he might otherwise have been able to achieve.

Jones then issued proceedings for negligence against the expert. She applied for the claim to be struck out, relying on immunity from suit. The High Court was bound by Stanton v Callaghan to grant her application.

The appeal against the order went directly to the Supreme Court as a point of general public importance.

Giving the leading judgment, Lord Phillips said the evidence did not suggest that removing immunity would discourage experts from providing their services to the court.

Drawing an analogy with barristers, he said: ‘The removal of immunity for advocates had not diminished their readiness to perform their duty, nor had there been a proliferation of vexatious claims or multiplicity of actions.’

He said that the decision does not affect the continued enjoyment by expert witnesses of absolute privilege from claims in defamation or undermine the immunity of other witnesses in respect of litigation.

Dissenting, Lord Hope and Lady Hale said the lack of a ‘secure principled basis’ for removing the immunity or reliable evidence as to what the effects of doing so might be, meant that it was better to leave any reform up to Parliament.

Commercial dispute resolution partner at US firm Mayer Brown, Matthew Lawson, said the decision was long overdue.

‘It is right that experts should follow advocates in no longer being immune from action for their more egregious failures,’ he said.

Lawson said it was unlikely the ruling would lead to fewer or more circumspect experts, as experts still have an overriding duty to the court and can limit their liability in their engagement letters.

‘Establishing negligence against credible and experienced expert witnesses will still not be easy – rightly so - and the courts will have no interest in opening the floodgates to speculative actions by parties whose cases were found wanting at trial,’ he added.

Agreeing that the decision would not open the floodgates to claims, dispute resolution partner at regional firm Stevens & Bolton, Andrew Quick, said claims would however now be brought in respect of ‘the most glaring lapses of judgment by experts’.

Quick said: ‘As Lord Brown noted, it may be that the most likely consequence of the removal of experts’ immunity from suit will be “a sharpened awareness of the risks of pitching their initial views of the merits of their client’s case too high or too inflexibly”.’

‘If that is right, some claims which might have ended badly for the claimant will not now be brought at all.’

CALL CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 They will never ask for your name, trace your call, you won't need to go to Court. Registered Independent Charity NOT connected to Police. (C)Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch,Peterborough,UK Tel: 01733 345581 Skype:Julian.Bray.UK>> Broadcast ISDN 01733 555319 ISDN Codecs G722&APT Media Enquiries: Julian Bray 01733 345581 http://tinyurl.com/STANGROUNDPFNW

UK Pensioners conned out of savings in £100million fraud

UK pensioners conned out of savings in £100m 'Boiler Room' fraud

If you want the fast cars, yachts and private jets - and you don't have the inclination to actually work for a living - how do you go about getting them?

Well if you're 53 year old Richard Pope, you simply find a way to target the most vulnerable people you can find, then you rip them off, empty their savings accounts and leave them destitute.

In fact, his 'boiler room' scam targeted UK pensioners, in some instances taking hundreds of thousands of pounds. The word is that other 'boiler room' operations, some based overseas, are also targeting senior citizens at random in Peterborough.

So how did the crooked Richard Pope do it, and how can you protect yourself?

The 'boiler room' scam is simply using hard-selling telephone techniques to sell victims worthless or non-existent shares. In this instance, Pope invented and set up a company. He then got hold of the details of UK people who had invested in dormant, publicly trading companies in America, and called them in order to pile on the pressure and persuade them to invest.

He created sham websites and bogus brochures to convince people the companies were legitimate investments with huge quick returns, he then conned them to part with money they could not afford to lose.

Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart from the City of London Polices' Economic Crime Directorate, led the investigation into the cruel, heartless scam, said: "The [victims] did not deserve what they have got; they thought they were going to be able to look after their families for years to come with this, but instead many of them have ended up divorced, homeless, or have had to come out of retirement and get jobs. For some of these people there will be no closure. This has scarred them for life. The psychological effects cannot be underestimated. It is the worst case I have dealt with."

So how do you guard against this sort of very convincing scam? Boiler room scams are thought to cost the UK about £200 million a year, so it's worth being alive to the dangers.

The rules on this are simple. It's against the law to cold call someone to try to sell them shares - or indeed any investments - so if someone does this, they are a criminal and you need to hang up immediately. They may be highly knowledgeable and convincing sales people. They may direct you to a professional website and be selling shares on what appears to be a credible exchange. It doesn't matter. This is still a crime.

There are even more giveaway signs. They are likely to have only one real way of getting in touch - whether that's a single phone number or email.

You will never meet them, and they will always have a reason to avoid you, and if you ever try to research the investment elsewhere you will come up against a worrying silence. However, you don't really need these signs. If you - or say an elederly member of your family - gets an unsolicited call, email or letter asking (or inviting...) you to invest, you are being approached by a criminal, and you should have nothing more to do with them but note any contact numbers , website addresses and telephone Police (Cambs. 0845 4564564) or Crimestoppers immediately!

-oOo-

CALL CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 They will never ask for your name, trace your call, you won't need to go to Court. Registered Independent Charity NOT connected to Police.

(C) Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch,Peterborough,UK Tel: 01733 345581 Skype:Julian.Bray.UK

>> Broadcast ISDN 01733 555319 ISDN Codecs G722&APT

Media Enquiries: Julian Bray 01733 345581 http://tinyurl.com/STANGROUNDPFNW

SYPG Meeting (Monday March 28 2011)

Stanground Young Persons Group (SYPG)

The meeting was held at Hampton Police Station on Monday 28th March.

Those present were:- Chris York (Chair)

Chris Harper (Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch)

Julian Bray (Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch)

Shirley Beswick (Police Community Support Officer)

Tania Weston (Police Community Support Officer)

Dave Dent (Park Farm Pumas)

Javed Ahmed (Peterborough City Council)

Morag Irving (Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch)/ (Minutes Secretary)

Apologies were received from

Councillors Walsh and Rush,

Sue Schofield, Cliff Moore and Sheryl Browne.

Elections were held for the position of Chair and Minutes secretary.

Chris York was elected as Chair and myself (Morag Irving), as minute’s secretary.

It was felt agencies and individuals should be approached with a view to attending future meetings and giving added input.

Most importantly it was felt the way forward was for the youths themselves to propose projects they would be interested in participating in, and for this group to support them in those projects.

Youths would be invited to meetings in the future, (the problem at the moment being transport to Hampton).

Meetings would where possible be held in Stanground.

The need for more volunteers to build on the ongoing success of this project was discussed.

CRB checks and training would be required. Problems arose during school holidays as Peterborough City Council support staff were at this time, also on holiday.

Dave Dent & Chris York expected around 40+ youths to join the football project at Heritage Park. (Numbers had naturally fallen in winter due to weather conditions).

The need for 2 more youth booths to be held on different nights was discussed.

The Skate Park it was reported was used extensively, it was perceived by the youths as being the best in the area.

The need for more seating and lighting at the Skate Park was discussed.

Current seating is inadequate and holds only 15 at a push.

With larger numbers using the facility the need for more seating was obvious. Users are cleaning the area themselves and taking pride in the location.

Residents close to the skate park had said noise levels were well below those anticipated. A minor problem with youths has been resolved by non-enforcement of ‘stop and search’; however this could be stepped up should any future problems arise.

All present expressed their thanks to Police for doing a brilliant job. The following dates are earmarked to paint the underpass: April 13, 14 and 15.

Paint had been ordered to undercoat the walls in preparation with Community Payback undertaking the work. (The work to be done 2 days prior to painting).

Dave agreed to visit the youth club immediately following the meeting, to update members re the dates and the need to collate information in time.

Youths would need to be advised the dates to ensure attendance, designs are already in hand. Supervision during painting was needed as paints need to be recorded as going out of storage and returned to storage as appropriate.

A meeting will held next Monday with the artists.

Chris York has arranged for a street artist to put the finished designs together and work with the artists.

Julian Bray will act as Media Relations officer for this project.

If you would like to read the full minutes please contact Morag Irving.

CALL CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 They will never ask for your name, trace your call, you won't need to go to Court. Registered Independent Charity NOT connected to Police. (C)Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch,Peterborough,UK Tel: 01733 345581 Skype:Julian.Bray.UK >> Broadcast ISDN 01733 555319 ISDN Codecs G722&APT Media Enquiries: Julian Bray 01733 345581 http://tinyurl.com/STANGROUNDPFNW

Warmer weather reminder - PS Goldsmith

Now that the warmer weather and light nights have arrived this is a gentle reminder after a spate of burglaries in the area, to lock your down stairs doors and windows even if you are in the house.

Burglers have been walking in through kitchen doors or leaning through open windows to steal handbags, laptops, mobile phones and keys. Ensure the shed is bolted and locked when you have finished the garden for the day and that garages are locked when not in use - it only takes a moment for a passerby to see an unlocked door and take whatever they can see in their sights, they will be gone before you can realise what has happened.


If you would like any security advice then contact your local NPT team who will be happy to visit you.

You can contact your neighbourhood policing team directly by replying to this email. We welcome your feedback and we will aim to get back to you as soon as possible. Please be aware that responses may take longer at times of high demand. Alternatively, you can ring your neighbourhood team on 0345 456 456 4.


CALL CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 They will never ask for your name, trace your call, you won't need to go to Court. Registered Independent Charity NOT connected to Police. (C)Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch,Peterborough,UK Tel: 01733 345581 Skype:Julian.Bray.UK >> Broadcast ISDN 01733 555319 ISDN Codecs G722&APT Media Enquiries: Julian Bray 01733 345581 http://tinyurl.com/STANGROUNDPFNW

Crime figures reducing - PS Goldsmith

Crime Reductions - Detection rate 2009-2010


All Crime down 10.4% lowest recorded crime since 2002 33.1% 26.0%

(2,178 fewer victims of crime)

Serious Acquisitive Crime down 22.5% 26.3% 15.3%

Burglary Dwelling down 27.0% lowest recorded crime since 2002 31.4% 13.8%

Vehicle Crime down 20.3% lowest recorded crime since 2002 22.9% 16.1%

Robbery down 17.4% - 3rd lowest recorded crime since 2002 28.9% 16.6%

Criminal Damage down 26.1% lowest recorded crime since 2002 13.5% 11.4%


Anti-social behaviour



This year a total of 15,184 incidents were recorded compared to last years 16,730 a decrease of 9.2%

Some of the activity this year:



. Embedding new crime/op's/NPT structure across the Division.

. 231 door a day warrants across Peterborough.

. Several critcal incidents, lengthymissing from home enquiries, two recently that had sad endings for the families involved.

. Biggest public order operation ever inCambs (EDL), football matches, community eents, Op Retain and Elections.

. Community safety team used Bluetooth for the first time to help with the EDL demo and two missing from home investigations.



Inspector Matt Snow states that the rowdy and inconsiderate ASB on the whole of Southern Sector, which includes Stanground, Park Farm, Woodston, Fletton and Hampton, has resulted in a 28.9% reduction compared to last year. This reduction has been achieved through targeted patrols of ASB hotspot areas use of disperal orders and Designated Public Place Orders, partnership working with the Council's ASB team, and Operation Staysafe amoungst others. The Stanground PCSO's worked with local teenagers last year to raise money for anew skate park, which gives the youngsters somewhere to go and has been a great success. Orton PCSO's worked with the Orton Gate Shopping Centre Management Team on a project funded by the Royal Society of arts, which reduced the ASB at the location to virtually zero.



The above demonstrates the work that has been carried out by the Police, the Communities and Partner Agencies throughout the year. It has been difficult at times but the results speak for themselves; we entre the new financial year with an even more difficult task of maintaining the current trends and improving upon them.


The next Neighbourhood Panel Meeting is on Tuesday 5th April

Venue: Brewster Ave Primary School - Time: 7pm-9pm

Please try and attend it is your opportunity to speak to us and partners about your concerns and make a difference to your area.




CALL CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 They will never ask for your name, trace your call, you won't need to go to Court. Registered Independent Charity NOT connected to Police. (C)Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch,Peterborough,UK Tel: 01733 345581 Skype:Julian.Bray.UK >> Broadcast ISDN 01733 555319 ISDN Codecs G722&APT Media Enquiries: Julian Bray 01733 345581 http://tinyurl.com/STANGROUNDPFNW

Update from PS Goldsmith (14/3/11 - 29/3/11)

During the period of 14/03/2011 – 29/03/2011, for our area, 87 incidents were called into The Police Service Centre and were serviced by officers from both Reactive and NPT. Please note that this represents a two week period rather than one week.



These calls for service are represented as follows:

Fraud 2

Road Related 13

Rowdy Nuisance 11

Suspicious Circumstances 9

Concern for Person 6

Domestic 9

Misuse 999 3

Burglary 2

Property 1

Violence 5

Criminal Damage 1

Theft 4

Messages 2

Missing from Home 2

Livestock 3

Police General 2

Fire 2

Drugs 1

Observation Message 1

Fire Arms 3

Noise Related 1

Civil Dispute 1

Stolen Motor Vehicle 1

Fraud 2



It can be seen that the top three calls are incidents for Road Related, Rowdy Nuisance and Suspicious Circumstances.



Of the 87 incidents reported 9 crimes were raised which are made up as follows:

Theft 1

Common Assault and Battery 1

Theft of a motor vehicle 1

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm 1

Burglary 2

Fraud 2


4 Warrants have been executed in the areas of Stanground/Park Farm, Woodston, Fletton and Hampton

For the same areas 12 arrests have been achieved.


Reassurance visits/telephone calls by Shirley and Tania your local PCSOs continue to be carried out along with their high visible patrols both on foot and in a vehicle.


Through the good work of volunteers the Stanground Youth Project Group held has been reintroduced and will be held on a monthly basis in order to service the needs of the youngsters in the community and to give them an opportunity to work towards the goals they would like to see achieved in the area.
(More about this project to follow)



There are still concerns in relation to passage through gardens to exit the Cardea Estate on Oakdale Avenue. Chris York is currently having talks with the builders to ensure they adhere to their original contract. If you have concerns please contact Chris York direct.

We have been advised that youngsters have started to meet at the Park Farm park and are being rather loud and drinking. We are aware and will patrol the area concerned. Please ring in on 0345 456 456 4 to report any such gatherings. It is important that the situation does not escalate and is managed before the summer nights.

Stanground and Park Farm is still exceptionally in order and it is pleasing to see that the Parade has not returned to the no go area experienced in previous months and that residents are now feeling comfortable to use the facilities at anytime they wish.

Your next Street Surgery has been arranged for Monday 4th April 2011 commencing at 1700 hours and will be situation on the Cardea Estate. Please come along and meet with us, it is always a pleasure to meet you.


Your next Panel Meeting is on the 5th April 2011 at Brewster Avenue Primary School commencing at 1900 hours. Again this is your chance to air your concerns and set the Panel Priorities for the next 3 months. Come along!

Kind Regards

Your Local Neighbourhood Policing Team




CALL CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 They will never ask for your name, trace your call, you won't need to go to Court. Registered Independent Charity NOT connected to Police. (C)Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch,Peterborough,UK Tel: 01733 345581 Skype:Julian.Bray.UK >> Broadcast ISDN 01733 555319 ISDN Codecs G722&APT Media Enquiries: Julian Bray 01733 345581 http://tinyurl.com/STANGROUNDPFNW

Janet Wilkinson :: Peterborough City Council :: Openly Local

A new dawn for Stanground?

Janet Wilkinson :: Peterborough City Council :: Openly Local

With the local elections just about to break around our heads. Residents might like to look through this amazing website http://openlylocal.com/ and see where all the money has gone and just what our elected representatives have been doing. We've featured Janet Wilkinson as she has moved out of the area and is not standing this time round. Enjoy.

CALL CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 They will never ask for your name, trace your call, you won't need to go to Court. Registered Independent Charity NOT connected to Police.

(C)Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch,Peterborough,UK Tel: 01733 345581 Skype:Julian.Bray.UK>> Broadcast ISDN 01733 555319 ISDN Codecs G722&APT Media Enquiries: Julian Bray 01733 345581 http://tinyurl.com/STANGROUNDPFNW