Manslaughter and Heroin

BBC Radio 4's Law In Action Tuesday 23 October 1600 GMT On Radio 4 and online

In 1996 a drug addict called Simon Kennedy prepared a syringe of heroin and gave it to a fellow addict.

That man then injected the drug and later died.

Was Mr Kennedy guilty of manslaughter?

In the event, he was convicted of manslaughter and his conviction upheld on two separate occasions by the Court of Appeal.

But whether a person should be guilty of manslaughter in these circumstances is a vexed question and Mr Kennedy's lawyers were given leave to appeal to the House of Lords in the summer.

And a few days ago their Lordships gave their judgement, and it was surprisingly and unusually short.

Barrister David Bentley argued that freewill was the key legal principle in the Kennedy case.

Law in Action spoke to David Bentley, a barrister who represented for Mr Kennedy.

The judgement also said the decision in another case was wrong.

This involved Mr Rogers, who had supplied a tourniquet to bring up a vein so that another man could inject himself with heroin.

That man later died and Mr Rogers was convicted and served a prison sentence for manslaughter.

We asked his barrister Nick Lewin what action he'd be taking in the light of the new judgement.

Change to the Conspiracy laws?

The Law Commission has a crucial job.

It's the independent statutory body that reviews our law and recommends reform where it's needed.

They've identified a significant area of the criminal law which, in their words, is littered with problems.

Conspiracy to commit a criminal offence is a crime in itself.

Jeremy Horder with Clive Coleman

The Law Commission have just published a consultation paper on the law of conspiracy, and found it wanting.

The programme talked to Professor Jeremy Horder to find out what was wrong.

If you'd like to comment on this please go to the Law Commission website. There's a link at the top right hand side of this page.

Expert witnesses reform?

Professor Sir Roy Meadow's evidence was influential in convicting Sally Clark of the murder of two of her children - a conviction which turned out to be unsafe.

At her trial he claimed that the probability of two natural unexplained cot deaths in the family was 73 million to one.

That figure was widely disputed.

It led to promises of reviews and reform of the use of experts.

So where are we? Training remains a key issue.

Reporter Ruth Alexander attended a course to see expert witness training.

Law in Action spoke to Penny Cooper, a barrister and associate dean at the City Law school.

She's just completed research about the training of expert witnesses and says the lack of training in some of the ethical issues which arise in some cases is a worry.

We brought together an expert witness, orthopaedic surgeon John Carvell, and solicitor Kate Hill who runs a company 'In Practice' that trains experts to discuss training and regulation issues.