Wednesday 25 January 2012

So, Suddenly, Ignorance Of The Law IS An Excuse?

Dallas told her fellow jurors she discovered that Medlock had previously been accused, and acquitted, of rape - information not given during the trial.
Her actions caused the collapse of Barry Medlock's grievous bodily harm trial at Luton Crown Court, the High Court was told yesterday.
Just another dumb juror?
Theodora Dallas, 34, said the judge spoke 'too formally and softly' for her to understand.

She told the High Court that she had 'no intention' to 'influence' the jury but had struggled to understand what the trial judge was saying.
Yup, probably unemployed (or unemployable), or a minimum wage cleaner or shopgirl or…

Oh:
Dallas, a psychology lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire
/facepalm
'We submit that the reason that she did it was to influence other members of the jury, she did this deliberately in a calculated manner in the face of protest from other jurors,' Mr Grieve said
He added: 'The jury officer, the judge, the notices placed all over the jury area and in the retiring room all make reference explicitly to the internet.'
Quite! It’s hard to see how that excuse is going to fly, but full marks to the defence for persevering with it:
Charles Parry, defending, said that the warnings of the judge were more like 'a godfather giving advice to a child rather than with emphasis.'
It sounds like even a child would have been able to comprehend. Maybe someone should take another look at her qualifications?

Meanwhile, in bucolic Yorkshire:
Police fighting to stop Eastern European migrants binge drinking in the street have put up posters in seven different languages saying that alcohol is banned.

Officers in Armley, West Yorkshire, had the message translated into Slovak, Czech, Polish, Russian, Latvian and Lithuanian. It is also written in English.
It’s nice to see English there, even if it is as an afterthought…
Inspector Mark Wheeler, senior neighbourhood officer for Armley, said that reports of street drinking in the area had been 'on the increase due to Eastern Europeans coming and not fully understanding the regulations.'
So, who cares? Just bang ‘em up!
They brought in the signs so people cannot plead for leniency claiming they could not read the English signs.
Do you suppose English people caught committing crimes abroad can claim leniency on the grounds they couldn’t read the signs?

No, me neither. Maybe they have more intelligent judges over there?

H/T: CJ Nerd via email

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't this bunch bother with signs in EEEENGLEEESH or their own slavic tongues:

Twelve of the 14 most wanted foreign criminals at large in Britain are from eastern Europe the Metropolitan Police have revealed.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091007/12-Scotland-Yards-14-wanted-foreign-criminals-eastern-Europe.html#ixzz1kT1G2KBG

"DIVERSITY! If you don't live and breathe it you shouldn't be in this job" - quote from a chief inspector at one of the many tedious 'diversity modules' I had to endure.

He bristled when there was laughter and shut-up when he was told we were all entitled to an opinion and that in [that] particular situation his rank was irrelevant and that we weren't quite the stasi....yet!

Antisthenes said...

Tell that to a French judge he would make the sentence harsher for failing to learn French.

Anonymous said...

Sorry....i hate psychologists. What a racket they have going. Wish i could remember her name, a canadian woman who wrote numerous books exposing her own field for corruption.

Just because your a psychologist, doesn't mena your a saint and they bring their own shortfalls to the profession. They use the cover of confidentiality more than any other in hiding their shortcomings.


Not a great advert for her ability at reading people and confidentiality...

JuliaM said...

"...and that we weren't quite the stasi....yet!"

Getting closer every day, though!

"Not a great advert for her ability at reading people and confidentiality..."

Or for the university!

Pogo said...

Oddly, or interestingly, or whatever.. Ms Dallas (34) got sent down for 6 months, with leave to appeal refused - probably more than the scrote in the dock would have got for GBH.!