A few days ago I did an anonymised summary of what happened to Victor Nealon, who served 17 years of a 10-year sentence for an attempted rape of which DNA evidence subsequently cleared him. Now he's being pursued for the legal cost of refusing him compensation.
How about a case from 1970 that went to the Court of Appeal four times and was rejected every time, despite a highly dodgy impromptu identification made in an unannounced 2-3 second night visit to the suspect's doorstep, accompanied by police officers who had simply "had a hunch" that the man might have been involved?
He'd been celebrating his birthday at home with his wife and daughter at the time, but as the judge counselled the jury: “Watch it, members of the jury …. This is a family alibi.”
Then, three years after the man's release from prison, a London gangster copped to having done the job, giving plenty of verifiable detail. But even that wasn't enough to reverse the verdict.
Tony Stock, the man jailed for the crime, died in 2012 unexonerated.
More here.
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Showing posts with label injustice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label injustice. Show all posts
Saturday, December 06, 2014
Saturday, November 29, 2014
If you are innocent, you have everything to fear
A man is accused of attempted rape. He immediately offers to provide DNA samples to clear himself. This is rejected. Without that evidence, and because of "a disputed identity parade and a weakened alibi", he is found guilty.
His recommended prison sentence ("tariff") is seven years.
He continues to protest his innocence. He applies to the Criminal Cases Review Commission - twice - and is turned down both times.
In 2009, 13 years after the incident, DNA tests are finally run on the victim's blouse. The DNA is from a different man.
It takes another three and a half years to quash the conviction and release the prisoner. By this time, he has served an additional ten years over and above his tariff, because of his refusal to admit guilt..
"The Criminal Cases Review Commission's chairman... has apologised for the early inaction on the part of his body and... police has just re-opened the investigation into the attempted rape."
The ex-prisoner is driven to the station and given less than £50, with nowhere to sleep.
He applies for compensation for the loss of 17 years of his liberty. The "justice" minister refuses.
And now he is pursued for the £2,500 legal costs incurred in refusing him.
For more, read this week's Private Eye (# 1380, p.31), or this online article which is the source of the quotes in the above.
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
His recommended prison sentence ("tariff") is seven years.
He continues to protest his innocence. He applies to the Criminal Cases Review Commission - twice - and is turned down both times.
In 2009, 13 years after the incident, DNA tests are finally run on the victim's blouse. The DNA is from a different man.
It takes another three and a half years to quash the conviction and release the prisoner. By this time, he has served an additional ten years over and above his tariff, because of his refusal to admit guilt..
"The Criminal Cases Review Commission's chairman... has apologised for the early inaction on the part of his body and... police has just re-opened the investigation into the attempted rape."
The ex-prisoner is driven to the station and given less than £50, with nowhere to sleep.
He applies for compensation for the loss of 17 years of his liberty. The "justice" minister refuses.
And now he is pursued for the £2,500 legal costs incurred in refusing him.
For more, read this week's Private Eye (# 1380, p.31), or this online article which is the source of the quotes in the above.
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Hunting in packs
Perhaps there's some fatal pheromone that causes a group suddenly to focus its aggression on a single individual. Or maybe there's a slightly more complicated, sadder explanation, involving cynical blamestorming by politicians and lazy, sensational reporting by the Fourth Estate.
A child known as Baby P is physically abused and killed by its mother, her boyfriend and his brother. The big fuss, however, is about the social services department and its chief is called on to resign. She points out the fact in the first sentence of this paragraph, refuses to resign and is called arrogant. Then she is dismissed from her post.
Her social workers (we are permitted to know by the media) have an average of 41 cases each, three times the recommended limit. Presumably Ms Shoesmith was not in a position to triple her department's budget and increase the number of her caseworkers by 200%.
Not good enough, you may say; the boss has to take responsibility. But the person who dismissed her was Ed Balls, the "Children's Secretary" yet, for some reason, he didn't resign. Is it a case of "the bucks stops... over there"?
Social work is one of a number of jobs that really, perhaps no-one in their right mind should consider doing.
A child known as Baby P is physically abused and killed by its mother, her boyfriend and his brother. The big fuss, however, is about the social services department and its chief is called on to resign. She points out the fact in the first sentence of this paragraph, refuses to resign and is called arrogant. Then she is dismissed from her post.
Her social workers (we are permitted to know by the media) have an average of 41 cases each, three times the recommended limit. Presumably Ms Shoesmith was not in a position to triple her department's budget and increase the number of her caseworkers by 200%.
Not good enough, you may say; the boss has to take responsibility. But the person who dismissed her was Ed Balls, the "Children's Secretary" yet, for some reason, he didn't resign. Is it a case of "the bucks stops... over there"?
Social work is one of a number of jobs that really, perhaps no-one in their right mind should consider doing.
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