The Johnson Partnership, News

29/10/25

Four other inmates have been wrongly released from custody in the past week, following the mistaken release of a convicted sex offender from HMP Chelmsford.

Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was freed from the Essex prison on Friday instead of being transferred to an immigration detention centre. The migrant sex offender — who had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping when he assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman — travelled to London after his release. He was recaptured in Finsbury Park on Sunday morning following a two-day manhunt.

29/09/25

Paul Gallagher, 59, of East Finchley, north London, has denied rape and a series of other violent sexual offences. The charges, brought by Scotland Yard following an investigation that began last year, were first reported by The Telegraph in July.

28/08/25

A taxpayer has been criticised by a judge after relying on an artificial intelligence chatbot to fight his tax case in court.

Marc Gunnarsson appealed against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which sought to recover £12,918 in self-employment support payments he had claimed during the pandemic. Representing himself at the Upper Tribunal, Mr Gunnarsson used AI to draft his written submissions. However, the chatbot invented three tribunal cases that did not exist, which HMRC spotted in his skeleton argument filed the day before the hearing.

23/07/25

Prisoners at HMP Stoke Heath in Shropshire will keep their Saturday morning lie-ins after a quarry extension was approved with a delayed weekend start time. Shropshire Council, led by the Liberal Democrats, granted planning permission for Grundon Sand & Gravel to extend operations at its Tern Hill site—on the condition that no work begins before 9am on Saturdays.

The decision followed objections from prison officials concerned that early morning quarrying, including noisy blasting, would disturb inmates' sleep. The category C facility houses 734 prisoners, who are allowed to sleep in beyond their usual 7:30am wake-up time on Saturdays.

19/06/25

Members of Parliament have voted by a majority of 242 to remove criminal penalties for women who end their own pregnancies at any stage of gestation and for any reason. The change effectively decriminalises abortion in these circumstances, meaning women will no longer be subject to investigation, arrest, or prosecution for doing so.

Under current law in England and Wales, abortion is a criminal offence under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, but it is legal if performed by an authorised provider up to 24 weeks, and under limited conditions thereafter. Women can also take prescribed abortion medication at home if they are under 10 weeks pregnant.