Latest news with #criminalJustice
Zawya
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Progress Report on Process to Consider General Mkhwanazi's Allegations
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Mr Ian Cameron, has reiterated the importance and urgency of setting out steps for a parliamentary process to consider the explosive allegations made by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. In line with this, the Chairperson wishes to share the following steps taken since the allegations were made. 1. The Chairperson has received confirmation from the Speaker of the National Assembly that she is considering the request for guidance on how to process the matter. 2. The committee has approached the Parliamentary Legal Unit for a legal opinion on possible ways to process the matter. 3. The Chairperson has received a letter from a member of the committee, Ms Lisa‐Maré Schickerling, requesting a joint parliamentary process with the Portfolio Committee on Justice. Engagements with the Chairperson of the PC on Justice have commenced to consider the modalities of such a process. Mr Cameron has emphasised that the gravity of implications of this matter for the entire criminal justice system is the reason for such a comprehensive response to the allegations. 'I must reiterate that accountability and transparency are critical in considering this matter. The credibility of the SAPS and the security of our country is dependent on how these allegations are handled,' Mr Cameron emphasised. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
The Sun
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Thugs, thieves and drug dealers could avoid court under radical plans to ease justice system backlog
THUGS, thieves and drug dealers could avoid going to crown court under plans to overhaul the clogged justice system. Offenders may avoid a criminal record and instead be sentenced to do unpaid work or get rehabilitation, it is proposed. 2 Sentences could be cut by 40 per cent, up from a third now, with an early guilty plea. Jury trials would be scrapped for some drug dealers and sex offenders with a judge and two magistrates presiding instead. They could impose sentences of up to three years' jail. The maximum penalty JPs could hand down would double to two years. The shake-up, proposed in a report for the Government by retired judge Sir Brian Leveson, is an attempt to tackle the current backlog of 77,000 crown court cases. It has seen trial dates pushed back as far as 2029. Sir Brian said without the reforms there would be a 'breakdown in law and order' with 'society taking things into their own hands'. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said 'criminals like burglars and some killers will serve just a fifth of their sentences. That makes a mockery of our justice system.' Victims' Commissioner Baroness Newlove warned higher guilty plea discounts and out-of-court disposals 'will feel like justice diluted again'. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has yet to announce which recommendations she will accept. First convicts leave Barlinnie after Scottish Government release 360 prisoners early due to overcrowding 2
CTV News
08-07-2025
- CTV News
Ont. man who murdered, set former girlfriend's remains on fire, granted continued day parole
Ryan Kovacs, who killed his ex-girlfriend Dawn Bailey, in 2011 was granted day parole extension. Warning: Content in this article may be upsetting or triggering to some readers. A Bradford, Ont. man, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2011 stabbing and strangulation of his former girlfriend, has been granted continued day parole through the summer. Ryan Kovacs, 40, is now one step closer to being released from prison following a parole board hearing earlier this year. It has been 12 years since Kovacs pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the brutal death of his former girlfriend Dawn Bailey inside her Gilford, Ont. home on July 31, 2011. The court heard Kovacs snuck into Bailey's basement bedroom that night and stabbed her several times before setting the home on fire to cover up the crime. Gilford murder Ryan Kovacs was convicted of killing his former girlfriend Dawn Bailey inside her Gilford, Ont. home on July 31, 2011. He then confessed to killing Bailey and was initially charged with first-degree murder and arson. Kovacs had sent Bailey a text message saying he would stab her in the heart if 'she screwed him over.' Bailey ended their two-year relationship six months before her murder. The court heard Kovacs refused to move on as Bailey had. Obsessed and angry with Bailey, Kovacs messaged a friend on Facebook saying he was going to hurt someone. The court heard, after a night of drinking and smoking marijuana and doing magic mushrooms, Kovacs drove from Huntsville to Bailey's home and ended Bailey's life as promised. She was 27. Gilford murder Dawn Bailey was killed inside her Gilford, Ont. home on July 31, 2011, by her ex-boyfriend Ryan Kovacs. The parole board noted Kovacs has battled substance abuse issues since he was 14, having tried acid, crack cocaine and heroin, saying alcohol has ruined his life and he did not plan on drinking again. Kovacs reported a history of suicide attempts and overdoses, and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and treated with medications, including anti-psychotic injections. The board said Kovacs was devastated by the breakup with Bailey and blamed her for his downward spiral - adding his risk for future violence against an intimate partner is high with extreme mood swings and anger control issues. Kovacs also reported hearing voices and is ordered to continue mental health counselling. The board noted his reintegration potential has increased from low to medium. Sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 16 years from the date of his arrest, the earliest Kovacs will be eligible for parole is July 31, 2027. As part of his conditions, Kovacs must report all friendships and intimate relationships with women. Related Articles
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Bryan Kohberger's handwritten Idaho murders confession revealed amid furious speculation about his motive
's signed confession admitting to slaughtering four University of Idaho students in their home has been released - but it still offers no clue about the mass murderer's motive for the attack. In the document - a written factual basis to accompany the plea agreement - the 30-year-old killer admits to all five charges against him, including one count of burglary and four counts of first-degree murder. He admits to breaking into the off-campus student home of 1122 King Road, Moscow, on November 13, 2022 'with the intent to commit the crime of murder.' For all four of his victims - Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin - Kohberger admits to their 'willful, unlawful, deliberate, with premeditation and with malice aforethought, killing and murder.' The killer signed the document in pen on July 1, with his scrawling handwriting reading: 'Bryan C. Kohberger'. Hours after it was signed, the 30-year-old criminology PhD student appeared in Ada County Courthouse on the morning of Wednesday July 2 where he formally changed his plea to guilty in front of his victims' devastated families. Notably absent from his signed confession as well as his comments in the courtroom was any indication about his motive for the brutal murders. Staring stone cold ahead at Judge Steven Hippler, Kohberger offered no answers for why he decided to kill and how he chose his victims - simply answering one words of 'yes,' 'no' and 'guilty' to each question. Bryan Kohberger's signed confession admitting to the murders and all five charges against him To this day, there remains no known connection between Kohberger and any of the victims or their two surviving roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen. But, during the plea hearing, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson told the court that Kohberger may have not planned to kill as many people as he did that night. 'We will not represent that he intended to commit all of the murders that he did that night, but we know that that is what resulted,' he said. Thompson did not reveal who prosecutors believe was Kohberger's intended target that night but sources close to the investigation previously told Dateline it is believed to be Mogen, based in part on the path the killer took after entering the three-story student home. After planning his attack - buying a KaBar knife months before as the murder weapon - Thompson said Kohberger entered the home through the back sliding door on the second floor. He went straight up to Mogen's room on the third floor where he found Mogen and her best friend Goncalves sleeping in the same bed. He stabbed both of them to death. On his way back downstairs or on leaving the property, he encountered Kernodle, who was still awake and had just received a DoorDash order. He fatally attacked her with the knife and then also murdered her sleeping boyfriend Chapin. On his way out of the home, Kohberger passed Mortensen who had been woken by the noise and peeked round her bedroom door. While the victims' families were left devastated by the chilling murders - and the community of Moscow reeled - Kohberger finished out his semester at WSU and meticulously scrubbed his apartment in Pullman and his car clean of evidence. He was arrested around six weeks on from the crime at his parents' home in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania. It is not clear if the judge will require him to provide a detailed statement to the court at his sentencing on July 23. But, in the absence of confirmation, many theories have emerged. Kohberger's decision to study psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University, under top serial killer expert Dr. Katherine Ramsland, and his behavior toward women have fallen under the spotlight. Former classmates told the Daily Mail that they were taught about notorious serial killers and mass murderers including Ted Bundy and Elliot Rodger on the course. Rodger had killed six and wounded another 13 in a violent rampage near the University of California, Santa Barbara, before turning a gun on himself. He left behind a warped 137-page manifesto laying out his incel motive - a hatred of women - and writing that a former friend named Maddy had 'eventually come to represent everything I hate and despise.' Two of Kohberger's former classmates tell the Daily Mail they recall learning about Rodger and his manifesto in class - and wonder if Kohberger is also an incel. Dateline previously revealed that Kohberger also made several internet searches related to Bundy - including watching a YouTube video about him and dressing up like the serial killer two days before his arrest. His phone was also allegedly used to search for pornography along with terms like 'passed out', 'forced', 'drugged' and 'sleeping' in the weeks around November 2022. He was then fired from his Washington State University teaching assistant role days before the murders, due to his behavior towards female students. Some of the victims' families have demanded that Kohberger be forced to answer questions about his motive as part of the plea deal. In a post on the family Facebook page, the Goncalves family wrote: 'At a bare minimum, please - require a full confession, full accountability, location of the murder weapon, confirmation the defendant acted alone, & the true facts of what happened that night. We deserve to know when the beginning of the end was.' The plea deal, which came as a bombshell move just weeks before the trial was set to begin, has divided the families of the victims. Goncalves' father Steve Goncalves refused to attend Wednesday's hearing as a sign of protest. In a post on Facebook, the family blasted the deal, saying: 'BK literally is too afraid to die, but he wasn't afraid to kill. BK wanted a plea deal and he was given one. Kaylee wasn't offered a plea deal. The state is showing BK mercy by removing the death penalty. BK did not show Kaylee ANY mercy.' Kernodle's aunt Kim Kernodle similarly told TMZ that the family had vehemently opposed the deal when it was suggested by prosecutors - and voiced her confusion given the state had previously told them they had enough for a conviction. On the other hand, family members of Chapin and Mogen voiced their support for the deal. Outside court following the hearing, an attorney representing Mogen's mom Karen Laramie and stepdad Scott Laramie said they backed the deal '100 per cent.' 'We now embark on a new path. We turn from tragedy and mourning,' Leander James told reporters. 'We turn from darkness and uncertainty of the legal process to the light of the future. We have closure. We embark on a path of hope and healing. We invite all of those who have mourned with us to join us, and we wish you well.' The killer gave one word answers and offered no emotion or remorse in the hearing Under the terms of the deal, Kohberger avoided the death penalty for the murders. Instead, he will be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and will also never have a chance to appeal his conviction or sentence. Kohberger will now return to court for his sentencing hearing on July 23. The families of the victims will be given the opportunity to deliver impact statements and Kohberger could also speak.
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Washington Post
At least 13 may have killed themselves over UK's Post Office wrongful convictions scandal
LONDON — At least 13 people were thought to have taken their own lives as a result of Britain's Post Office scandal , in which almost 1,000 postal employees were wrongly prosecuted or convicted of criminal wrongdoing because of a faulty computer system, a report said Tuesday. Another 59 people contemplated suicide over the scandal, one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in U.K. history.
