Thongs and placards were held aloft in Belfast on Thursday in solidarity with protests in the Irish Republic earlier this week over how rape trials are conducted.A recent case in Co Cork sparked outrage after a defence barrister referred to the 17-year-old complainant's underwear during the trial, in which a…

The death of a 10-year-old in a house in Perth and Kinross is being treated as murder.Kane Morris died at the scene in Union Street, Coupar Angus, in the early hours of Sunday while an eight-year-old girl remains in a critical condition in hospital.A 37-year-old man has been arrested in…

The widow of a former Welsh Government minister who was found dead while facing sexual misconduct allegations is to urge the High Court to allow her to challenge the legality of an inquiry into his sacking.A judge in London will hear a fresh application for a judicial review by Bernie…

Home Secretary Sajid Javid is considering his response after a High Court judge declared a decision to cut state cash support to potential victims of human trafficking unlawful.Weekly payouts were cut from £65 to £37.75 in March, a month before Mr Javid took charge at the Home Office.A teenage asylum…

Council social services bosses have been criticised by a family court judge who questioned whether guidelines were followed in a case involving a mother of three who has learning disabilities.Judge Thomas Greensmith has suggested that the lives of the woman's children would have been different if staff at Wirral Borough…

Leading judges are being asked to rule that a teenager's "prolonged solitary confinement" in detention amounted to "inhuman and degrading" treatment.Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, Lord Justice Moylan and Lord Justice Singh heard on Wednesday that the boy was locked alone in his cell at Feltham Young Offender Institution (pictured)…

Council social services bosses have come under fire from a family court judge after a little boy was placed with foster carers when grandparents who might have offered a home were unaware of his existence.Judge Mary Lazarus has complained about a "wide-ranging composite set of failings" by staff at Kent…

A children's home worker accused of sexually assaulting boys in his care used his connections with Manchester United to "buy a form of silence" from his victims, a court has heard.Bruce McLean, 62, was friends with footballers and, while working as a care worker in the 1970s and 1980s, would…

A mother left traumatised by her disabled daughter's difficult birth has been awarded more than £75,000 in damages by a High Court judge.The woman, who cannot be identified, suffered a psychiatric injury following the birth of her daughter at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent, in 2012.The baby was…

A Northern Ireland schoolgirl whose mother is facing prosecution for buying her abortion pills was taken from a classroom by police officers and spoken to about the alleged crime without her parents being present, a court has heard.A barrister for the mother outlined the circumstances of the case as she…

An electrical engineer has been jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 29 years in prison for murdering his wife and 11-year-old stepdaughter in an episode of "wanton savagery".Christopher Boon, 28, stabbed wife Laura Mortimer and her daughter Ella Dalby multiple times in the kitchen of their home…

A charity which provides care for disabled people and was founded by Second World War bomber pilot Leonard Cheshire has won a tribunal fight after a dyslexic former manager made a disability discrimination allegation. Employment tribunal judges have dismissed claims against Leonard Cheshire Disability by a former care home manager…