Alex Blair

Comms

See below the news and media items Alex has coordinated through his communications and human rights work. NOTE - some of these pieces are not written solely by Alex nor are they his intellectual property.

BBC News •

Taunton man challenges council tax change for disabled people

A man with a number of physical and mental health conditions has begun a legal challenge in the High Court against a council's decision to remove his exemption from paying council tax.Andy Mitchell, from Taunton in Somerset, along with many others in the country, has recently been moved from "legacy" disability benefits to Universal Credit (UC) by the government.As a recipient of UC, he now only receives a 10% discount from council tax as it is classed as earnings. A judicial review of the decis...
Garden Court North Chambers •

Inquest into the death of Josh Perry bolsters calls for Gabe’s Law to prevent future car park deaths

Garden Court North’s Christian Weaver represented Josh Perry’s family during the inquest at Liverpool and Wirral Coroner’s Court (pictured). Credit: Liverpool & Wirral Coroner Area.

An inquest into the tragic death of Josh Perry has concluded that he died as a consequence of falling from the nineteenth floor of a multi-storey car park in Liverpool, bolstering calls for the introduction of ‘Gabe’s Law’ to increase the minimum height of car park barriers.

Such legislation would have prevented th...
The Guardian •

Barrister in Palestine Action trial facing contempt of court proceedings

A leading human rights barrister is facing contempt of court proceedings after he was accused of defying a judge’s orders during a trial of Palestine Action activists.Rajiv Menon KC is accused of breaching the judge’s directions while giving his closing speech in the trial of six people in relation to a 2024 direct action protest at an arms factory of the Israeli subsidiary Elbit Systems UK in Filton, near Bristol.None of the defendants were convicted of any offence after the first trial, which...
Liverpool Echo •

Our sons should never have died. This needs to change now.

Natasha Perry and Johnny Santer have lots in common. They are both parents to boys who had their own unique personalities, who enjoyed skateboarding and who knew some of the same friends. Tragically, the two parents are fused together because their boys both died in remarkably similar and traumatic circumstances.

Gabriel Santer was just 15-years-old when he fell to his death from the Hanover Street Q Park in Liverpool City Centre on October 3 2020. On March 14 in 2025, Josh Perry died at the ag...
BBC News •

Council failing led to tree swing death of girl, 12, inquest hears

A 12-year-old girl was killed by a falling branch while playing on a rope swing which should have been removed by the council, an inquest has heard.Brooke Wiggins was just days away from her 13th birthday on 9 November 2024 when she was fatally injured at Grove Place, near the junction with Carshalton Road in Banstead, Surrey.The tree she was swinging from, which is maintained by Surrey County Council, had not been inspected since May 2022, South London Coroner's Court in Croydon heard on Wedne...
Garden Court North Chambers •

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 •

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...
The Guardian •

UK Palestine Action ban ruled unlawful, in humiliating blow for ministers

Judges have humiliated ministers by insisting Palestine Action should not be banned under anti-terrorism laws in a ruling that has left thousands of its alleged supporters in legal limbo.

The high court said on Friday the government’s proscription of the direct action group was “disproportionate and unlawful” and that most of their activities had not reached the level, scale and persistence to be defined as terrorism.
The Guardian •

Palestine Action activists cleared of aggravated burglary at Israeli defence firm site

Six Palestine Action activists have been cleared of committing aggravated burglary over a break-in at an Israeli defence firm’s UK site. Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin were accused of threatening unlawful violence and using sledgehammers as weapons after a prison van was driven into Elbit Systems’ factory in Filton, near Bristol, on 6 August 2024. But after a trial at Woolwich crown court, south London, none were convicted of any offence.
ABC •

Donald Trump says a 'beautiful armada' is heading for Iran

US President Donald Trump has urged Iran to make a deal on the future of its nuclear ambitions, warning the next American attack would be far worse.Meanwhile, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says more than 6,000 people have been killed in the brutal crackdown on protesters - but other groups put the toll in the tens of thousands, with an internet blackout making it difficult to verify.

US President Donald Trump has urged Iran to make a deal on the future of its nuclear ambitions...
Garden Court North Chambers •

High Court grants judicial review for disabled Somerset resident to challenge council tax reduction scheme

On 9 January 2026, the High Court granted a disabled Somerset resident, Andy Mitchell, permission to proceed with his judicial review challenging the lawfulness of Somerset Council’s tax reduction scheme.

Permission was given on all grounds (discrimination, rationality, and compliance with the public sector equality duty). The claim will proceed to a subs...
Garden Court North Chambers •

Government’s ill-considered proposals to limit jury trials will result in irrevocable damage for no tangible gain

Garden Court North’s Nina Grahame KC will join barristers at a Parliamentary Lobby Day at Westminster on 3 February to discuss the proposed jury reforms. Credit: HY-DP / Shutterstock.

Garden Court North’s crime team unequivocally opposes the Government’s proposal to restrict the right to a jury trial, a proposal to irrevocably damage a fair, tried and tested system providing justice to all members of society.
BBC News •

Garden Court North's Pete Weatherby KC calls on the Government to adopt amendment to Hillsborough Law

Amendment 23, which has cross-party support, removes the Government's exemption for secret services in Hillsborough Law's Duty of Candour, as called for by bereaved families from the Manchester Arena bombing in a letter to the Prime Minister last week.

MI5 officials misled the Manchester Arena Inquiry regarding intelligence it held about the attacker, running an "organisational false narrative".
BBC News •

Manchester Arena bereaved families say MI5 must be fully included in new law on cover-ups

Families bereaved by the Manchester Arena bombing say MI5 failed them and must be fully included in a new law designed to stop cover-ups in public life.In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, seen by the BBC, they ask the prime minister: "How many times must MI5 show that it cannot be trusted before something is done?"MI5 was found by a public inquiry not to have given an "accurate picture" of the key intelligence it held on the suicide bomber who carried out the attack which killed 22 people and injur...
The Guardian •

Hillsborough families decry ‘bitter injustice’ that no officers will face disciplinary proceedings

The families of those who died in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster have said it is a “bitter injustice” that no police officer will ever be held accountable for a catalogue of failings set out in the final report of the police watchdog after a 14-year investigation.The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that 12 police officers, most of them senior, would have faced disciplinary cases of gross misconduct if they were still serving.However, no former officer will face disciplinary pr...
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