Alex Blair

Garden Court North Chambers • 11th May 2026

A Duty of Candour is desperately needed. Ten years on, why is Hillsborough Law stalled?

The below op-ed was written by Garden Court North’s Pete Weatherby KC, who has represented many of the bereaved families involved in justice campaigns including Hillsborough, Covid-19, Grenfell, and Manchester Arena bombing. Pete led the team which drafted the 2017 Hillsborough Bill, and is one of five Directors of Hillsborough...

Garden Court North Chambers • 16th April 2026

Nina Grahame KC in The Times: retirement, theatre to law, vulnerable female defendants

Garden Court North’s Nina Grahame KC has been featured in The Times’ ‘In Conversation’ column, in which she discusses her pending retirement, the litany of high-profile criminal cases she acted on, and some of the key issues she has championed throughout her 33 years at the Bar.

The column, published today (16 April 2026), also chronicles some of Nina’s life before coming...

Garden Court North Chambers • 14th April 2026

Southport Inquiry Phase 1 report finds “catastrophic” failures by multiple agencies

The Southport Inquiry’s Phase 1 report has found that the horrific knife attack at a children’s Taylor Swift dance event on 29 July 2024 was possible due to “catastrophic failures” by multiple agencies.

The report, published yesterday (13 April 2026) by Inquiry Chair Sir Adrian Fulford, condemned the...

Garden Court North Chambers • 10th April 2026

‘Candour & Communities’: Centre for People’s Justice launch Hillsborough Law exhibition

The Centre for People’s Justice has launched the ‘Candour & Communities’ exhibition at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, detailing 100 years of state-related disasters and cover-ups, and explaining Hillsborough Law to the public.

Hillsborough Law, or the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, would impose a Duty of Candour, Dut...

Garden Court North Chambers • 20th March 2026

Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 3 report: NHS was “on the brink of collapse” during the pandemic

The Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 3 report has found that the NHS “teetered on the brink of collapse” during the pandemic, only surviving because of the “superhuman” efforts of healthcare workers.

The Inquiry’s report, published yesterday (19 March 2026) by Inquiry Chair Baroness Heather Hallett, set out a number of findings from Module 3, which investigated the pandemi...

Garden Court North Chambers • 5th March 2026

Covid-19 Inquiry: Tenth and final module draws to a close

After three years, ten modules, and hundreds of hours of powerful evidence at Dorland House, London, Garden Court North’s Anna Morris KC delivered the final closing submission in Module 10 of the Covid-19 Inquiry on behalf of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ) UK earlier today (5 March 2026).

“Every...

Garden Court North Chambers • 16th February 2026

High Court rules that proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful

At approximately 10am on Friday (13 February 2026), the High Court handed down its ruling that the decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group was unlawful, “disproportionate” and should be overturned.

The High Court upheld two grounds of challenge, including that the ban disproportionately interfered with the...

Mining Technology • 30th January 2026

New president, new policy: Bolivia’s shift against lithium protectionism

The blindingly white salt flats of the Salar de Uyuni stretch across thousands of square kilometres in south-western Bolivia. On any given day, the Salar teems with hundreds of tourist excursion jeeps, harvester machines and specialist pumps for deep extraction of the vast lithium reserves hidden beneath the 8m-thick crust of the world’s largest salt flats.

Army Technology • 3rd January 2026

Airstrikes around Caracas as US “captures” Venezuelan President Maduro

Explosions rang out across the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in the early hours of 3 Janauary as the US Air Force “successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela”, according to President Trump.

Low-flying MH-47 Chinook helicopters flew into Caracas unopposed earlier on Saturday as US military personnel captured and flew President Nicolás Maduro and his wife out of the country in an unprecedented operation.CBS News reported that US officials said President Maduro had...

Garden Court North Chambers • 25th November 2025

Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 2 Report finds “inexcusable” mistakes and delayed lockdown led to 23,000 avoidable deaths

The Covid-19 Public Inquiry has published its second report investigating the government decision-making in the UK’s response to the pandemic, which determined that “inexcusable” mistakes and delays in imposing a lockdown led to approximately 23,000 avoidable deaths in the first wave leading up until 1 July 2020.

Baroness Hallett DBE, the Chair of the Inquiry, made 22 key findings about the emergence of...

Garden Court North Chambers • 29th October 2025

Court of Appeal grants Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori a judicial review

On 17 October, the Court of Appeal confirmed that Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori could pursue a judicial review against the organisation’s proscription by the Home Office.

Three judges, including the Lady Chief Justice, Sue Carr, upheld Mr Justice Chamberlain’s decision to grant the judicial review in July. In September, the Home Office appealed on the...

Garden Court North Chambers • 27th October 2025

Three years after his inquest, Awaab's Law comes into force

After years of campaigning, Awaab’s Law has today (27 October 2025) been passed into law.

It honours the legacy of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who tragically died in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in 2020 due to “prolonged exposure” to mould in his home, a coroner concluded. Awaab’s family and NHS staff repeatedly reported the issue to the social housing provider, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, but the problem remained unresolved.

Garde...

Garden Court North Chambers • 21st October 2025

Georgia Barter’s inquest concludes in finding of unlawful killing resulting from domestic abuse

Georgia Barter died at Kings College Hospital on 26 April 2020, after being violently assaulted by her partner on or around 5 April 2020 and taking a fatal overdose. She had been subjected to around a decade of domestic abuse by her partner.

The inquest into Georgia’s death found that she was unlawfully killed and died as a result of domestic abuse. This...

Garden Court North Chambers • 16th September 2025

Hillsborough Law to be presented in Parliament

The below op-ed was written by Garden Court North’s Pete Weatherby KC, who has represented many of the bereaved families involved in justice campaigns including Hillsborough, Covid-19, Grenfell, the Post Office scandal, and Manchester Arena bombing. Pete led the team which drafted the 2017 Hillsborough Bill, and is one of five Directors of Hillsboro...

Garden Court North Chambers • 15th September 2025

Southport Inquiry impact hearings begin

Impact hearings for the Southport Inquiry continued throughout last week, in advance of the Inquiry starting to examine the circumstances surrounding and events leading up to the brutal knife attack at a children’s Taylor Swift dance event in Southport on 29 July 2024, and whether it could and...

Army Technology • 6th August 2025

China’s Trump card: rare earths as geopolitical bargaining chips

When camouflage-clad, rifle-carrying rebels from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) led an offensive to seize the northern town of Pangwa near the Myanmar-China border last October, few recognised the international implications.

It marked the latest escalation in a seven-decade-long civil conflict between Myanmar’s brutal military regime and hundreds of armed groups like the KIA, rooted in the resource-rich provinces spanning China, Thailand, India and Myanmar.More significantly, the KIA’s of...

Garden Court North Chambers • 1st August 2025

Covid-19 Inquiry hears of “forced” discharging of hospital patients without testing and “generational slaughter” in care homes

Yesterday, public hearings concluded for Module 6 of the Covid-19 Inquiry, which overwhelmingly heard how a lack of preparedness and a lack of parity between Health and Social Care led to a fatal lack of protection for the adult social care sector during the pandemic.

Garden Court North Chambers • 27th June 2025

167 cross-party MPs and Lords sign letter calling for an undiluted Hillsborough Law

138 MPs and 29 Lords have signed a letter published today (27 June 2025) calling for the UK Government to deliver a full and undiluted ‘Hillsborough Law’, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised in his party conference in 2022 and 2024 in Liverpool.

Garden Court North Chambers • 12th June 2025

Jury acquits protestor of conspiracy to cause criminal damage to drone factory alleged to export weaponry to Israel

Garden Court North’s Rosalind Burgin secured the acquittal of a client charged with conspiracy to cause criminal damage to a factory in 2024, in protest of what they alleged was involvement in the manufacturing and export of weaponry to Israel.

Garden Court North Chambers • 15th May 2025

“Lack of candour” prevalent following deaths at NHS mental health trusts in Essex, Lampard Inquiry hears

NHS Mental Health Trusts have repeatedly tried to prevent coroners from issuing Prevention of Future Deaths reports following the deaths of thousands of mental health patients in Essex, the Lampard Inquiry has heard.

In her evidence on the 12 May 2025, Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST, said that a...

DSEI 2025 • 6th March 2025

Norwegian Navy Chief calls on NATO and private sector to protect critical undersea infrastructure

RADM Berdal’s calls come amid a growing number of sabotage attacks on CUI in the Baltics.

As sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) continues to rise, Norway’s local authorities, NATO partners and private sector companies must collaborate to maximise its protection, Rear Admiral (RADM) Oliver Berdal, Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy, told DSEI on 3 March.

“One of the most important things when it comes to protecting our critical underwater infrastructure is working very closely...

DSEI 2025 • 25th February 2025

The end nears for Germany’s ‘special defence fund’. New Chancellor, new investment?

Radical defence investment and SME integration has topped the political agenda in Germany since Friedrich Merz won the 23 February elections.
 
As Germans across the country return from voting for their new Chancellor on 23 February, a ‘day after’ plan for the looming end of the government’s special defence fund remains front and centre for the German – and European – defence industry.
Previous German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earmarked EUR100 billion for this ‘special fund’, or ‘Sondervermögen’...

DSEI 2025 • 21st February 2025

Exercise Steadfast Dart marks first deployment of NATO’s new Allied Reaction Force

UK soldiers taking part in NATO’s Exercise Steadfast Dart 25 say they are ready to deploy to Ukraine.

The first large-scale deployment of NATO’s Allied Reaction Force (ARF) is drawing to a close in below-freezing conditions at a training base in Smardan, Romania, 16 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Exercise Steadfast Dart 25, which ran from 10 to 21 February, saw more than 10,000 troops from nine European nations conduct joint drills across Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania. US forces were not...

DSEI 2025 • 18th February 2025

EU injects EUR192 million into next-gen ground combat proposals

Ground combat capabilities are the top priority in the EDF’s latest call for military proposals.

The European Commission announced a fresh investment of EUR1.065 billion into projects for “tomorrow’s defence capabilities” on 30 January.

Under the European Defence Fund (EDF), the investment will support nine competitive calls for proposals across 31 topics, from rotorcraft propulsion systems to space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).