Comments on: Mental contortionism

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 06:47:00 +0000

I posted a generous chunk of a very sensible piece by Anthony Scrivener (Tony Martin's QC) on my blog yesterday.

To anyone who actually knows what powers the existing law grants you (i.e. a hell of a lot, and juries almost invariably favour the householder even in contentious cases) it's no more than a statement of the obvious, but there's so much bibble flying around with regard to this particular issue that the obvious badly needs repeating.

By: Andrew Bartlett

Andrew Bartlett — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 06:57:00 +0000

We’ve taken steps to ensure that witnesses and victims of crime are provided with conditions that are compatible with the production of ‘justice’ in an adversarial system, i.e. built measures into the system to reduce outright hostility. Given that the accused are also innocent, at least during the process of the trial, why do we not offer them the same opportunties for giving evidence.

Furthermore, despite the Tories (and most of the media) propagating the myth that there are legions of householders in jail for self-defence, the truth is that they have been unable to name a single person in jail for ‘self-defence’ who shouldn’t be there. Less thoughtful commentators point to Tony Martin (shot someone running away in the back, while sentencing had to take into account his genocidal fantasies), a drug dealer in Manchester who stabbed a guy in the back as he ran away, and a third guy who seems to have a decent case but pleaded guilty! Now, this might confirm what the Tories claim, that the criminal justice system is institutionally biased in favour of the accused, but it is difficult to hold this position while asserting that the accused get a raw deal, especially without a single piece of evidence. Unreason and inconsistency make good soudbite politics though. Bad democracy.

By: Chris Lightfoot

Chris Lightfoot — Sun, 12 Dec 2004 09:42:00 +0000

You're being a little misleading here. Most of the people in that article seem to have been at least as distressed by long delays before the CPS dropped any case against them, or such cases went to court, as by their treatment by the Police.

I look forward to the Telegraph's campaign for more funding for the CPS to address these issues in all criminal cases, not just those arising from self-defence.