The Age, Tuesday 21 April 2020:

The article discusses the impact of bail reporting rules during the COVID-19 crisis and quotes our lawyer Ben Watson:

“Criminal lawyer Ben Watson, from Johnstone and Reimer Lawyers, said bail was already being refused in court due to the inability to report to a police station and other impacts of the pandemic.

An accused criminal was recently refused bail, despite having compelling new facts and circumstances, because they were deemed an unacceptable risk because they were unemployed due to COVID-19. “Without the ability to report, monitoring and lack of protective factors such as employment means that people who would otherwise get bail cannot due to the current circumstances,” Mr Watson said.”

Read the full article here.