What questions are being asked about the case?

Ever for the reason that Southport assault in July, social media has been awash with misinformation, rumours and lies about what occurred and the way the prison justice system is dealing with the case.

The foundations and complexities of how our prosecutions work imply there are limits on what the general public can know earlier than there was a verdict in courtroom.

This has been the commonest query throughout social media from day one.

There’s a common rule protecting all prison instances in England and Wales which signifies that earlier than a trial takes place, there might be no reporting of something which may prejudice or impede the course of justice within the case.

This isn’t a ban on the reality.

It’s a postponement of reporting the main points to make sure that a jury will not be influenced and base their choice solely on the proof they hear in courtroom. It’s how our justice system tries to ensure all defendants obtain a good listening to.

Different nations, notably the USA, assume that is pointless. And lots of British journalists (I declare an curiosity) assume these guidelines – half of what’s often called Contempt of Courtroom – want rethinking.

That mentioned, some details can at all times be reported earlier than trial.

After I or colleagues stand exterior courtroom, you’ll see us explaining the allegations and who a defendant is.

None of that influences a jury as a result of it doesn’t get into the element of what a defendant might have truly performed or not performed.

That’s why within the Southport case, and confronted with an astonishing on-line hearsay mill suggesting the suspect was an unlawful immigrant, Merseyside Police clarified that the 17-year-old they’d arrested had been born in Cardiff.

Later, a choose allowed the media to call him, lifting an ordinary rule on defending the identities of under-18s who’re in courtroom.

Axel Rudakubana appeared in courtroom on Tuesday to face prices of manufacturing a organic toxin and possession of a doc seemingly be helpful in terrorism.

That’s as a result of he was solely charged with these new offences the day earlier than.

Each the Conservative Occasion management candidates prompt there have been inquiries to be answered right here.

Robert Jenrick instructed ITV’s Good Morning Britain that “the state shouldn’t be mendacity to its personal residents”.

He then clarified that he didn’t know if the state was mendacity, and added: “We don’t know the rationale why this info has been hid.”

His Tory rival, Kemi Badenoch, mentioned there have been “severe inquiries to be requested” of the police, the Crown Prosecution Service “and in addition of Keir Starmer’s response”.

This wants breaking down.

The police have publicly mentioned that ricin was present in Axel Rudakubana’s dwelling after it was searched following his arrest.

The truth that we weren’t instructed is no surprise as a result of police investigations are at all times confidential – and their conclusions solely grow to be obvious when somebody is charged.

It isn’t uncommon – significantly the place a defendant is already in custody – for the police and prosecutors to take their time on deciding extra prices.

They won’t focus on this publicly as a result of they’ve an obligation to not affect a jury.

Axel Rudakubana’s second new cost, the possession of a army examine of an al-Qaeda guide, is an allegation below the UK’s most important terrorism laws.

He’s charged with possession of a doc “prone to be helpful to an individual committing to or getting ready an act of terrorism”.

However making that allegation doesn’t routinely imply there was an act of terrorism and he has not been charged in relation to any act of terrorism.

To declare a terrorist incident, the police have to be positive a suspect had been motivated to make use of violence with a purpose to affect the federal government or public within the identify of some political, spiritual, racial or ideological trigger.

These selections can take a very long time – generally months – as a result of police chiefs don’t need to bounce to conclusions and there’s usually an infinite hunt by social media for proof to resolve the query a method or one other.

The brand new prices Axel Rudakubana faces required the consent of the legal professional basic, the highest authorized adviser to the federal government who sits within the cupboard.

The AG’s day-to-day position is to advise the federal government on the way to act lawfully – and he additionally has to log out use of a few of our most advanced prison legal guidelines, together with terrorism act offences.

It is a safeguard baked into the legislation to ensure these prosecutions are solely used when completely mandatory.

It’s a legally confidential course of. The choice-making doesn’t contain some form of vote across the cupboard desk. It isn’t a political choice.

It’s completely normal for prime ministers and residential secretaries to be briefed on actually large ongoing prison operations.

They might must take parallel selections about public security or discover further assist for the police – an instance of that being how the army needed to get entangled within the Salisbury nerve agent poisonings.

Ministers won’t ever speak about these confidential briefings. And the rationale why is greatest illustrated by the Operation Pathway disaster blunder of 2009.

The then-head of counter-terrorism was photographed going into Downing Road to transient authorities on a suspected terror bomb plot.

He was holding a doc that exposed the plans – and its disclosure pressured the police to fully change their plans.

The very last thing the police need is for ministers to be revealing the element of an operation that could be unfolding – as a result of detectives want to have the ability to resolve for themselves when is one of the best time to make arrests.

This has come up on social media – however up to now the prosecution has been prioritised by an embattled and backlogged courtroom system, in the direction of a trial date early subsequent yr.

Typically, when further prices are added to a case, a choose has to place a case again a bit to present the defence extra time to organize.

They should make sure that a trial can be truthful, complete and never abruptly come unstuck as a result of it’s been rushed.