Laughing Gas in UK Law
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Balogh v St. Albans Crown Court
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During the trial he took a half-cylinder of it from the hospital car park. He was waiting for a moment when he could slip up to the roof without anyone seeing him. The officers of the Court had watched him go up to the roof. They kept him in custody and reported the matter to Mr. Justice Melford Stevenson, who was presiding in No. 1 Court (not the pornography Court). At the end of the day's hearing, at 4.15 p.m., the Judge had Balogh brought before him.
As I have said, a Judge should act of his own motion only when it is urgent and imperative to act immediately. In all other cases he should not take it upon himself to move. He should leave it to the Attorney-General or to the party aggrieved to make a motion in accordance with the rules in Order 52. The reason is so that he should not appear to be both prosecutor and judge: for that is a role which does not become him well.
When this case was opened, it occurred to each one of us: Was Mr. Balogh guilty of the offence of contempt of Court? He was undoubtedly guilty of stealing the cylinder of gas, but was he guilty of contempt of Court? Were not his acts merely preparatory acts falling short of an attempt? But he is not guilty of attempting to break into the house. He had the criminal intent to break in, but that is not enough. So here Mr. Balogh had the criminal intent to disrupt the Court, but that is not enough.
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R v M
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Both Rooney and Balogh were cases of alleged criminal contempt, that is to say either contempt in the face of the court or conduct tending to interfere with a trial which is underway or just about to begin. There are two possible ways of dealing with criminal contempt: one by the exercise of the summary jurisdiction, the other by an application to a Divisional Court. Neither case has anything to say about civil contempt; that is to say breach of a court order carrying the contempt sanction.
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Alan Wilkinson and Lord Chancellor's Department and official Solicitor
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In our judgment, it is necessary to distinguish between jurisdiction and good practice. Although the summary procedure is a Draconian step which should never be embarked upon lightly, it is not limited to cases where it is necessary to preserve the integrity of a trial which is in progress or about to begin (the observations in Director of Public Prosecutions v Channel Four Televisions Co Ltd [1993] 2 All ER 517, at p 521a —c, were not intended to cover all eventualities).
In many cases where there has perforce to be a delay between the alleged contempt and the summary trial, it will be wise for the judge to refer the matter to one of her colleagues if for no other reason than to avoid the risk that this argument will be run.
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R v Santiago (Steven Anthony)
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We conclude that a judge is entitled to defer taking action on a prima facie contempt. He may adjourn the issue of whether a contempt was committed and any issue of punishment until later. The fact that the trial is over or the fact that there is no immediate need to take action does not prevent the judge from later taking action. Indeed he should not take action immediately if to do so would be unfair to the defendant.
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Port of London Act 1952
... ... Garden rollers ... Garlic Gas-Carbonic acid laughing (nitrous oxide) or nitrogen-ln tubes or cylinders in cases In tubes or cylinders loose Sulphurous anhydride or sulphurous anhydrous cylinders or ... ...
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The Great Yarmouth Third River Crossing Development Consent Order 2020
... ... lift branches overhanging land within the Order limitsBorough of Great Yarmouth Conservation Area No.5 – Nicholas and Northgate Street (Laughing Image Corner) Sheet 3Group comprising:1 Whitebeam (ref T57) ; and2 Unknown (Ornamental) (ref T58, T60) RemovalBorough of Great YarmouthConservation ... ...
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Danger — Sniffer at Large
... ... as recently as a century ago, the inhala-tion of first nitrous oxide (laughing gas) then ether and finallychloroform was considered to be a genteel method of becoming in-ebriated.It was in November 1970 that attention in ... ...
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Impossible Attempts—Another View
... ... Crown Court, in which the defendant was acquitted of an attempt to commit contempt of court by releasing laughing gas from a cylinder, Lord Denning, having observed that the defendant had not carried out every step necessary to ... ...
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The perceived challenges of working with patients who use new psychoactive substances: a qualitative study in a medium secure unit
Purpose: New psychoactive substances (NPS) are increasingly being used in secure mental health settings. Within these settings, NPS use presents a range of challenges and staff currently lack adequ...... ... can decrease the heart rate and the rate of breathingand lead to a loss of consciousness or even deathNitrous oxide (commonly known as“laughing gas”), Etizolam, GHB (commonlyknown as a “date rape drug”)Anti-anxiety andopioid-like drugsHallucinogens Most produce their effect by agonism ... ...
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Prohibition, privilege and the drug apartheid: The failure of drug policy reform to address the underlying fallacies of drug prohibition
It appears to be a time of turbulence within the global drug policy landscape. The historically dominant model of drug prohibition endures, yet a number of alternative models of legalization, decri...... ... Cambridge: Polity Press.Bassil R (2015) How will the new ban on laughing gas, poppers and legal highs affect this sum-mers festivals? Available at: ... ...
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ASA Adjudications Snapshot - November 2010
... ... 15. ITV Broadcasting Ltd t/a UTV, 10 November 2010 ... A Department of the Environment TV advert showed a young boy laughing and playing in a garden. The next scene showed a young man celebrating after scoring a goal during a football match and then having a pint of beer ... ...