bob shannon

[watsupdoc87]

Deidre Barlow was also innocent

[mickey1975]

I knew Sutcliffes sister in law when I lived in Harrogate for a bit. She didn't mind him! Barlow/Rashid was always innocent. It was him from The Tie Rack that was a wrong un.

[magwitch]

People make false allegations everyday for numerous reasons. Its for the prosecution to prove their case and if twelve independent and objective members of the public, having heard all of the evidence make a sensible and balanced decision which returns a not guilty verdict then the accused should rightly be treated as an innocent man.

The system isn't bullet proof, of course.

The issue I took exception to was someone on here making an unfounded, unsubstantiated and completely speculative statement that Shannon must have done something wrong simply because a complaint was made. That is ignorant and dangerous.

In my view the criminal justice system shouldn't be given that degree of credibility.

Course it should. What else should it be given. There are no Minority Reports yet. It's the best we've got.
Compare the current justice system in England to some of what's gone before it - and is still going on in some (first world) countries:

Stonings
Flingings off towers
Torture
Interrogation under torture
Interrogation without representation
The divine right of kings (to put heads on spikes)
The burning of witches
Guantanamo Bay
Voodoo trials in Africa (probably).

As it happens I don't have a problem with Guantanamo. They can thank their "fellow Muslims" for that camp. The threat to America was too great to not do anything and I'll bet the majority in detention (prison) with no good excuse are f*cking wrong uns.

[crusader]

Your reasoning seems to be it's the best we have, and better than many other criminal justice systems, therefore its decisions must reflect reality and someone cleared of charges therefore never committed the alleged offenses.

I find that utterly nonsensical, because you're crediting the system with being a perfect arbiter of truth (and if you're not why are you disagreeing with me?) when the decisions rendered through it are the products of fallible judgment and there have been instances of the system producing faulty outcomes. Moreover, I fail to see the bearing that stoning in other countries has on whether the decisions rendered in your criminal justice system are always accurate reflections of the truth; I am not saying the system shouldn't be given a high degree of credibility relative to those in other countries, simply that people shouldn't ascribe such a degree of credibility that leads them to suggest that someone being cleared of charges (or found guilty) proves that they didn't (or did) commit the acts in question.

[handsofstone]

Dierdre Rasheed was innocent.