Blimey. I left a comment here at the time having read the CPS release without doubting its veracity for a moment. You kindly replied with what I thought was a slightly sphinx-like comment. Now I see why. The judge should have been more savvy, but the CPS release and AG’s video statement really do seem to have done harm.
I have been concerned about CPS media releases for some time. What has troubled me has been the triumphal undertone of the statements, and the fact that acquittals are not similarly reported, to show balance, and to teach the public how the criminal justice system works. Too often the CPS spokespersons have forgotten that the prosecutor's constitutional role is as a *minister of justice* who never wins or loses a case; instead the role of the CPS is to ensure that justice is done. And justice means acquittals or NFA as well as convictions. This is being lost sight of in the era of Operation Soteria.
How could the CPS have got this so wrong? Simple: its press release was based on what prosecutors had argued during the trial and nobody checked it against the judge’s findings.
If the prosecutors mentioned knife point rapes then who gave them that information, the complainants?? hhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Blimey. I left a comment here at the time having read the CPS release without doubting its veracity for a moment. You kindly replied with what I thought was a slightly sphinx-like comment. Now I see why. The judge should have been more savvy, but the CPS release and AG’s video statement really do seem to have done harm.
I have been concerned about CPS media releases for some time. What has troubled me has been the triumphal undertone of the statements, and the fact that acquittals are not similarly reported, to show balance, and to teach the public how the criminal justice system works. Too often the CPS spokespersons have forgotten that the prosecutor's constitutional role is as a *minister of justice* who never wins or loses a case; instead the role of the CPS is to ensure that justice is done. And justice means acquittals or NFA as well as convictions. This is being lost sight of in the era of Operation Soteria.
Thank you, Laura. Come to think of it, I can't recall a recent press release from the law officers announcing that the Court of Appeal has declined to increase a sentence — with the exception of last week's announcement, which mentioned this at the very end: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/two-teenage-boys-given-custodial-sentences-after-attorney-general-intervenes
How could the CPS have got this so wrong? Simple: its press release was based on what prosecutors had argued during the trial and nobody checked it against the judge’s findings.
If the prosecutors mentioned knife point rapes then who gave them that information, the complainants?? hhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm