[News] 38 years.

[Lenny Rider]

Stefan Kiszko died in a mental hospital, he never recovered from his prison time, which, as a ‘convicted’nonce was made unbearable by fellow inmates and prison officers alike.

I know of people who changed their minds about the death penalty when they read the true facts of his case.

The Senior Police Officer in charge of the case was never prosecuted for perjury, which he undoubtedly committed as “ it wasn’t in the public interest “.

Very sad, one of the most disgusting miscarriages of justice in British history, but like a number of things went right under the radar. (And sadly another reason why we can’t hang the people we should, for fear of hanging one innocent person by mistake due to corrupt or inept coppers)

ITV made a series about it, but it probably got lost in the wake of X Factor or the Jungle, you do wonder if it had the same impact as Mr Bates vs The Post Office the officer would have faced the courts?

 

[rippleman]

Another significant problem with our system is that a "murderer" has to admit the offence before the Parole Board will consider them for release. That's what kept Malkinson in prison for so long. He had to confess to a crime he never comitted, so of course he wouldn't and was kept banged up. Another stench on the Malkinson case was the GMP Chief Constable abandoning an internal investigation. Just like the travesty at Hillsborough, no police officer has ever been held accountable.


We can never have hanging unless we can have 100% confidence in a police force and judiciary that is totally fair and uncorrupt. So that will be never then.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

One thing I don’t understand, the new DNA results came in last year, it’s taken 6 monthsplus to release the poor bugger.

Due process.....and don't start me on that....

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

On the flip side where do you stand on the likes of Ian Huntley and Roy Whiting, clearly guilty And deserving of execution?

It’s a tough one, never mind this Gent, in my lifetime, I’ve seen the Guildford 4, Birmingham 6 and the Carl Bridgewater 3, 13 people originally found guilty, who in days gone by would have hung, yet they were all later proved innocent.

As much as I’d have agreed with the hanging of both Huntley and Whiting, and that of the now dead, Suttcliffe, Bishop and Brady, the 13 aforementioned Individuals make a death penalty unworkable.

Well reasoned. I agree. Judicial intervention cannot be irreversible if the system has fallibility (and it always will).

(Quite separately, I personally feel that state murder is wrong, so I oppose capital punishment a priori. I distinguish this from killing in warfare. Others may disagree, and I sympathize with their imperative, especially with apparently unequivocal cases like Huntley and Whiting. I have always said that if someone did something to one of mine, I would seek revenge by my own hands, but would expect the state to hold me back. Visceral emotion and legal process are easy to conflate, but it is in the best interest of all to disentangle emotion and legal process. You will recall back in the 60s, 70s and 80s, where the bloke arrested on Friday would appear in court on the Monday, face black and blue, to plead guilty, because the police had been allowed to assume the role of detective judge and jury, over the weekend. Those were dangerous times.)

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

My family lost faith in British Justice in the 1960s. My Grandfather had gone from professional soldier, to prison warder, to Court Usher at the Old Bailey. One morning he was sacked on the spot for being drunk and bundled in a cab home. The cabbie said 'Blimey mate you're wrecked!' To which Wilbur Orville (my grandfather) slurred 'I don't drink!'
'f*** me, you're having a stroke.' Then rushed him to hospital. He did not get his job back on recovery.

While that is a disgrace, and while I understand your bitterness, it would be wrong to assume that nothing has changed and that people are not interested in trying to make all aspects of society work better and more fairly.
I am sure some would say 'it' has 'swung to far the other way' (whatever that means).
My point being that we humans are quite good at learning and correcting errors. It's what we do.

 

[lawros left foot]

Funnily enough I have just been talking to a court usher this morning, he’s a big Albion fan, so mainly talked football.
I haven’t seen him for a while so asked why he hadn’t been in for a sandwich, and he told me his team have been cut from 11 down to 7. His ‘patch’ is now anywhere from Harrow( North London) to Hastings.

 

[Comrade Sam]

While that is a disgrace, and while I understand your bitterness, it would be wrong to assume that nothing has changed and that people are not interested in trying to make all aspects of society work better and more fairly.
I am sure some would say 'it' has 'swung to far the other way' (whatever that means).
My point being that we humans are quite good at learning and correcting errors. It's what we do.

Whilst I'm mostly in agreement, Starmer pisses on that argument.