The Crime and Policing Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 and creates a large number of new offences. Some are already in force, a second tranche commenced on 29 June 2026, and many of the offences practitioners will meet most often are still waiting on commencement regulations. Knowing which is which is the practical problem this session solves.
Sam Wiggs, criminal pupil barrister at St John's Buildings, works through the key sections in order, setting out the elements of each offence, its mode of trial and its maximum sentence. He covers the child sexual offence provisions, including grooming as a statutory aggravating factor and the removal of the civil limitation period, the new online pornography offences, and the protest offences and police powers.
The second half turns to the offences most likely to appear on an indictment: the intimate image and deepfake provisions inserted into the Sexual Offences Act 2003, the new spiking offence, causing internal concealment of specified items, child criminal exploitation, cuckooing as a standalone offence, possession of an offensive weapon with intent to use unlawful violence, assault on a retail worker, and trespass with intent to commit a criminal offence.
Key Takeaways
- Which provisions were in force from 29 April 2026, which commenced on 29 June 2026, and which still await commencement regulations
- How grooming works as a statutory aggravating factor under the new Sentencing Act 2020 section 70A, including the requirement to announce it in open court and the fact it turns on the date of conviction rather than the date of the offence
- Why the removal of the civil limitation period for child sexual abuse claims also reverses the burden onto the defendant to show a fair hearing is not possible
- How cuckooing works as a standalone offence, the wide definition of dwelling, and the Schedule 9 criminal purposes
- Why possession of an offensive weapon with intent is not restricted to public places, and how it feeds the mandatory minimum for repeat offenders
- Where the new intimate image, screenshot and deepfake offences are likely to appear in practice, particularly alongside coercive and controlling behaviour counts
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