If you happened to be around when several people died, be afraid. Obviously you shouldn't find yourself in that situation too often, granted....unless you're a nurse like Colin Norris, caring for seriously ill elderly patients.
A brief canter through Colin's case - his conviction for serial murder and the evidential doubts - can be read here at Private Eye: http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=in_the_back&issue=1329
There are several threads in this case which are common in wrongful convictions, beginning with the very shaky scientific evidence. More disturbing was the cherry-picking of "victims". Other patients died of seemingly identical causes but were excluded from the inquiry - because Colin wasn't on duty. This leads to a beautifully symmetrical circle of prosecutorial fallibility. In excluding these other deaths, then Colin becomes a "common denominator" in the remaining deaths - conviction by statistics. Obviously, include the other deaths and an acquittal is certain....
Colin's case is one of those investigated by the InsideJustice team based at InsideTime, and I am so proud to be a part of a group of people who share an abhorrence for injustice. Including forensic specialists, lawyers, investigators and (from January) me, InsideJustice is one of the very few avenues left for those wrongfully convicted since the mainstream media appeared to lose interest in investigating this dark corner of our criminal justice system
The wrongly convicted live a shadowy existence. They not only suffer all of the pains of imprisonment that accrue to the guilty but suffer extra torments. In asserting their innocence the prison system denies them "privileges" and slows their progress towards release. The innocent pay a heavier price than the guilty.
Over the following year I will return to this theme and draw your attention to specific cases. Why? Because no one should be allowed to forget that innocent people rot in prisons, and because they should know that there are those who actually give a damn. It may be small comfort, but if it is all I can do then I should.
Colin Norris. Remember that name.
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"since the mainstream media appeared to lose interest in investigating this dark corner of our criminal justice system"
ReplyDeleteIt seems BBC1 Scotland did a programme last October on this case 'A Jury in the Dark'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-15068743
They did indeed, and it was excellent. But there remains no regular interest in miscarriages of justice within the mainstream media.
DeleteThe BBC Scotland Programme was made by Louise Shorter from InsideJustice and ex-producer of Rough Justice.
DeleteSome readers might want to check out a 1993 book 'Justice in Error' by Clive Walker and our current DPP Keir Starmer.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to dubious scientific evidence, Prof Sir Roy Meadows is renowned. There is also evidence of a CSI effect when it comes to juries and expert scientific evidence. They often convict on the basis of questionable forensic evidence or acquit when other types of evidence prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt but there was little or no scientific evidence available.
Chuck Macaber
Cherry –picking of evidence is a standard practice of the police, that, in my opinion, is impossible to regulate/eradicate.
ReplyDeleteWhy would the police send evidence up to the CPS that (they knew) would clear their prime/only suspect? They know, as well as anyone, that it’s a case of; ‘If the glove don’t fit – the jury will acquit....
That's the reality for sure but you have to be one evil fucker to want to do a job knowing you are convicting innocent people and get pleasure from it. Also you have this situation where shit sticks and caught between a rock and a hard place you take the path of least resistance. An example is Operation Ore where a lot of individuals accepted a caution to Some crime related to CP. those who didn't accept were threatened with the case going to court.
DeleteTurns out a lot of these cases are really due to CC fraud but Jim Gamble one of the lead investigators insists, if these people are innocent then why did they accept a caution. I'd like him to answer the question, how would he cope with being paraded in the local paper and the local court on CP charges for all their family and friends to see. Many families have been devastated by this as you can imagine and many have committed suicide yet according to the likes of Gamble this shows guilt not a loss in the faith of humanity.
I quite agree. I'm taking part in a BBC radio prog in a couple of weeks on the complicated issue of historical abuse trawling by police.
DeleteWell if you have the chance of some reading time then check out inquisition21 which is about this saga. For me It stirs up a lot of emotion not because I was involved in any way, it's just my own experience and conclusions that at times the justice system, the media and other connected organisations all are too lazy and possibly blinded by their own righteousness to admit they are wrong.
DeleteAs an aside I came across operation ore when I was working as the local "IT mechanic" and the story broke. I got called out on a job where a family had accidently downloaded a "virus" onto their machine, which forced their browser to visit a CP site everytime it was opened. It was so embedded in the workings of the machine that I had to contact an anti-virus organisation to get it removed. I did some further digging and found the site was hosted on servers in Washington DC of all places and I also wrote to the domain registry asking they remove the domain as it was clearly CP related.
I did start to consider due to the physical location of the site if there was some form of entrapment going on and also with regard Ore couldn't quite get my head around the idea that there was a peado in every street in the UK as reported by the media. I put it to the back of my mind until one day I happened upon some guy’s comments about Operation Ore and what had been going on. It turns out this guy was actually involved and he was one of those amateur investigators that just about had enough knowledge and relevant experience to take on the state with all it resources and of course it’s “ingrained attitudes”. It’s still not over now even some 10 years later but at least now there’s some families who can piece together their lives again even if the justice system won’t swallow it’s pride and look at this matter through the nightmared eyes of the innocent.
I like the idea of a series of posts on this topic and I will remember the names. Likely to research some, too. Why did the defence counsel not bring the uncounted incidents to court?
ReplyDelete"Why did the defence counsel not bring the uncounted incidents to court?"
DeleteBecause they are never informed of all the facts known to the prosecution, despite complete disclosure being a 'legal' requirement.
As long as any system is paid by 'results', then you are going to get those results. The legal system is rewarded politically for gaining convictions, rather than ensuring justice.
" In asserting their innocence the prison system denies them "privileges" and slows their progress towards release. The innocent pay a heavier price than the guilty."
ReplyDeleteThe Bridgewater Four are a classic case in point. convicted of killing a 13yr old paperboy and always insisting innocence, they were subjected to hideous abuse in the general prison population on a daily basis because they couldn't be segregated as they would have to have admitted to something they hadn't done. Their convictions were quashed after spending years in prison.
Chuck Macaber