Crime
Criminal Damage
Offences against the Administration of Justice and Public Interest
Offences arising from Immigration, Asylum and People Exploitation


This week there are again three chapters to look at, and they are the last three chapters in the Crime Blackstone’s.

I have always found Criminal Damage an easy subject to study, because it was written around the same time as the Theft Act, 1968 against 1971, and was probably written by the same team. Because it uses similar expressions to the Theft Act and they have similar meanings.

Criminal Damage also builds from one offence to another, again using similar expressions as it builds. So once you get the core subject, which is the basic damage offence, and you understand that, the rest should all fall into place nicely. It is one of those subjects that if I were teaching it, lends itself to being taught around examples, and I think that is the best way to learn it.

Criminal Damage is full of offences that can make good questions. It is worth remembering that this is one of those offences that can be aggravated on both Religious and or Racial grounds

Ages creep into this chapter as well, because the short section on ‘Sale of Aerosol Paint’ revolves around the age UNDER 16 years. There is also a defence to the offence which can also be tested by your examiners. Remember there are two parts to the defence, firstly taking all reasonable steps and secondly the belief that the person was not under the age of 16 years, both must apply.

The section on Contamination or Interference with Goods is a very good area for a question writer with lots of conditions and more than one outcome. This is one of those topics that is easy to learn if you try to imagine a scenario for each section and for each outcome. That way you can place the different subjects firmly in a place where you can recall them.

The next chapter Offences against the Administration of Justice and Public Interest has one or two interesting topics in it. To start with the offence of Perjury is a good area to be tested, but don’t forget the Aiding and Abetting offence. Both should be quite straight forward to learn.

There have been a number of high profile cases of Perverting the Course of Justice, and that is an easy topic to study. All you need to know is that justice has been or is intended to be perverted.

Witness Intimidation and Harming witnesses go hand in hand and both subjects are worth having a look at. The only other area in this section worth looking at is the Wasting Police Time section at the end of the chapter. It is worth remembering there are two legs to the offence, not just the offence, but also to give concern for the safety of person or property, a rich area this for a good question writer.

Lastly this week ‘Offences Arising from Immigration’ is a very relevant topic. Following one of my recent cycle rides to Paris I came back into the country through Calais and the car in front of ours was searched by customs officials. They opened the boot and out popped a teenage boy!! There is no doubt this is a very current topic that is well worth giving a good look at. A lot of the offences are committed by a person who is not a British citizen. Obvious you may think, but not always in the heat of the exam.

People trafficking is also very topical so have a good look at that, it is fairly straight forward, but the rider at the end talks about someone who is not a citizen of the European Union, so that is different from the offences previously.

Well that brings to a close another syllabus book, Crime is now done too. Well done. It is worth pointing out that as I write this the Home Secretary has just announced ‘The end of the ASBO’ according to the BBD radio news. I think it is unlikely this will have any impact on your exam. The papers have all been written, validated, and printed, and it is far too late to change them. The NPIA may issue a statement about this to forces, or post something on their web-site, but I think it is a bit too close to the exam to do much more than that. If you do get hear anything please let me know and I will post it both on the Police Oracle pages, and also on my own web-site on the news pages, at www.executiveguidance.co.uk. You can contact me through the contact pages on that web-site too.

Top Tip.

Last weeks top tip was to use every spare second to revise. This week I am going to suggest that you draw up your plans for revision. This programme of study has been designed to allow you 2 full weeks of revision in the run up to your exam. Think back to those topics you found difficult to study or understand and plan to re-visit those.

You have given yourself a good chance to pass this exam as long as you stick to your study plan. There is still a lot of material to get through and as of today there now 23 days to go. That figure will drop now quicker and quicker as you get closer to the big day, use every moment you have to go back into your notes and revise. .

If it helps I will be running more of our successful weekend Crammer Courses just south of London in Surrey in the weekends just before the exam you can book yourself on one by going to www.executiveguidance.co.uk and visiting our shop. Dates are now published in the events section in the same web-site.

Don’t forget too there is a blog on the web-site for you to put tips for study on, or just to chat. No-one has taken advantage of it yet, but it would be great if we could get it up and running, please feel free to join in. I would love it to become the support structure for you.

Just a brief update on the London to Paris bike ride I mentioned last week. This year there were a lot of bobbies and also a significant number of members of NARPO members riding with me. We rode, along with 700 others, over 330 miles, raising £1.1 million for an amazing charity called Action Medical Research. www.action.org.uk.

We rode on five different routes meeting up on Saturday at about 15.30hrs to ride down the Champs-Elysees together, finishing at the Eiffel Tower, an amazing experience. It was a hard ride this year, but none the less one I was glad to do. This amazing charity developed the first vaccine to cure and eradicate polio form the UK, so you have all benefitted directly from its work. It is now doing fantastic work in research into premature birth. 25 babies die in the UK each week just because they are born too soon. Action Medical Research are pledged to spend £3 million to find out why these babies are born too soon, to stop it happening and to keep alive the little ones who do arrive prematurely, a truly amazing reason to cycle 330 miles.

Back to the exam, please remember that I do not have any inside track as to the content of your exam, I can only give you pointers. The only sure fire way to pass is to know all four books really well. Hopefully at the end of this programme of learning that is what you will have done. Keep at it, it is worth it when the results are published and your name is on that list of those who passed. Next week is the final study session of Blackstone’s before we go into revision.

Finally if you are having a problem visit my OSPRE Part 1 forum on www.policeoracle.com and if I can help you I will. That makes the assumption a knowledgeable officer reading the forum does not get there ahead of me.  Good luck with this weeks study and keep at it, the rewards are well worth it.

The Trainer