Currently
there is much controversy over the prosecuting policies of the CPS.
The conviction on all charges of Rolf Harris has gone a long way,
some would argue, to justify the time and cost of investigating the
activities of those reprehensible examples of humanity. On the other
hand the very logical response of the Attorney General regarding
convictions for rape has provided ammunition for those whose
standard of required proof might fall short of beyond a reasonable
doubt. Such extremes of opinion are visible to any visitor to a
trial held at a magistrates` court.
A
recent sitting featuring two trials could have been filmed as a
demonstration of the width between good and bad judgement by the CPS.
In the former case an elderly defendant with a long history of
offending had pleaded not guilty in a low level sexual offences
matter where the prosecution case was nothing less than overwhelming.
The complainant and an independent witness were as forthright in
their testimonies as one could wish. Even with very competent
counsel the defendant had as much chance as a snowball in hell in
establishing any doubt in our minds. On the other hand the evidence
from a complainant in a very minor matter of public (dis)order and
criminal damage resulting from an innocuous road rage encounter was
as thin as a strand emanating from a silkworm. The complainant in
evidence admitted having lied to police, tampering with the alleged
damage, behaving aggressively and herself having initiated the whole
episode. We threw the case out at half time. With just a
modicum of investigation and some little insight by police and CPS at
a very early stage it should have been put into the waste paper
basket where hundreds of such cases no doubt should end up.
Such
a waste of time and resources is as much to do with the actions of
this government and in particular the Justice Ministry as more widely
propagated examples of ineptitude and blind adherence to a mantra of
cutting public funding irrespective of the consequences longer term.
Oh, I almost forgot.........there`s an election next May where the
winning ticket has printed upon it (according to one advisor to Bill Clinton);
“It`s the economy stupid”.
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