Author Archives: HM Government

A 35 year old Derbyshire woman who provided a false alibi for her boyfriend has now been jailed following intervention from the Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP.

Lisa Sudale was convicted of perverting the course of justice after telling police officers investigating a £39,000 armed robbery of a Birmingham jewellery shop that she had been with her boyfriend at the time of the offence. Her jail term was originally suspended until a Court of Appeal hearing overturned it under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. She has now been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Sudale gave police a false statement after her boyfriend was accused of being armed with a shotgun and robbing and assaulting a 70 year old jeweller. She claimed the two had spent the entire day at together at her home in Swadlincote. Evidence later contradicted her story when it emerged she had phoned her boyfriend at the same time they had apparently been together. Hotel records also indicated her boyfriend had been staying elsewhere.

Following the successful appeal, the Solicitor General said:

This was a clear case where someone lied to the police to help someone else get away with a serious violent crime. Perverting the course of justice undercuts public confidence in our courts and damages trust in the system. A prison term sends a clear message that we will act to protect the judicial process from those who seek to undermine it and I am pleased the offender has been given an immediate custodial sentence.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

“At the Gothenburg Social Summit, Prime Minister Theresa May held a bilateral meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk.

“In positive discussions, the two leaders spoke about the progress which had been made so far in the negotiations on citizens’ rights, Northern Ireland and the financial settlement.

“Prime Minister May and President Tusk agreed that there is more work to be done and discussed how to take further steps forward together in advance of the European Council in December.

“The Prime Minister also held a constructive bilateral meeting with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

“They discussed the progress which has been made so far. The two leaders looked forward to further progress being made ahead of the December Council.

“President Macron and the Prime Minister also discussed the strong bilateral relationship which exists between France and the UK and looked forward to building upon it further in coming months and years.”

Farmers will see a boost in their basic payments this year after Farming minister George Eustice increased entitlement values and greening rates.

Coupled with the favourable BPS exchange rate confirmed in September, basic payments will be worth 25% more on average this year, compared to 2015.

Farming Minister, George Eustice said:

Exchange rate changes since the decision to leave the EU have led to a recovery in many farming sectors and BPS payments this year will be 25% higher than in 2015.

The RPA has published the higher BPS rates online today. Payments under this year’s BPS will be hitting bank accounts from 1 December.

Under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), farmers need to hold an entitlement for every hectare of eligible land they are claiming on. The size of farmers’ payments will depend on how many entitlements they use, supported by eligible land and the value of those entitlements.

The greening part of payments will be calculated by taking the number of entitlements that they have used with eligible land to claim payment and multiplying it by the greening value.

Entitlement values

Greening rates

Notes to editors:

• The Euro exchange rate that will be used to calculate all payments is €1 = 0.89470.