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07 October 2022
Issue: 7997 / Categories: Legal News , Public , Sports law , Health & safety
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NLJ this week: Pitch invaders who interrupt play should beware of the law

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In this week’s NLJ, Neil Parpworth, of Leicester De Montfort Law School, looks at trespass on the field of play. It’s just not cricket! 

Parpworth looks at a case of aggravated trespass, where a YouTuber invaded the pitch dressed in whites during a test match at The Oval, ran up to the crease and released the ball. He also collided with a player. This caused confusion both to players and umpires.

While the YouTuber found this entertaining, the judge disagreed and found him guilty of aggravated trespass, under s 68(1) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

Parpworth writes that case law on s 68 suggests that it is an offence tending to be committed in the context of protests and demonstrations. However, the case of The Oval YouTuber, like that of the Naked Rambler before him, where ‘the defendant is committed to a course of action which inevitably has an impact on others’ illustrates the scope of the offence.

Read Neil's article in full here.

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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