A good day for Justice

A Northumbria Police Officer has been convicted of sexual offences, including rape, and misconduct charges having spent years preying on vulnerable women with whom he came into contact whilst on shift.

The trial lasted for a few weeks, the jury took time to consider their verdicts, the defendant was acquitted of some offences and now he faces some considerable time in custody. A good day for English Justice?

Absolutely.

The witnesses were the sort of people who when they appear in Court as Defendants are not believed. Indeed those of them who were drug addicts would have turned lying into a fine art. Not only that their memories would be shaky to say the least. They gave their evidence, the jury listened to what they had to say to the Prosecutor and in cross examination by Defence Counsel.

The trial will have cost money-quite a bit, of that I have no doubt along with the costs of the investigation and the defendant’s legal aid.

The jury members gave of their time too and took part in the process in what I believe is the second most important role a citizen of England and Wales can participate in after voting.

Already Northumbria Police have had to apologise for recruiting the Officer in the first place when there were warnings of his future conduct ignored-and they failed to deal with him properly when previously made allegations were investigated.

It was Northumbria Police Officers who undertook hours of work to gather evidence against their former colleague.

There is a monetary cost to Justice and there is the cost to lives-already fragile lives made even less bearable through the actions of someone in whom all of us should have immediate trust.

But there is also a price paid by the Defendant. We often we hear of the rights of victims and of rebalancing the scales of Justice in favour of “victims”. The truth is that the Defendant is and must be the centre of the Justice process. When a shift is made away from that position we see excesses perpetrated in the name of Justice. Too many people being arrested and charged to Court when the policy was “the Party’s over”. Too many children brought to Court under the guise of addressing anti-social behaviour. Sentences being created and imposed which take away all hope of rehabilitation and release (IPP) and turn too many people into Life prisoners. We have a ridiculously high proportion of our population in custody. The alternatives do work and could work better if properly funded.

The jury system works. The criminal investigation and prosecution system works. The defendant was properly and rigorously represented. All of these things require proper resources. Too often we have seen politicians promise too much for too little investment.

However sometimes, in relation to less serious matters, the resources are not made available to ensure that Justice is properly served. In those cases-often involving minor offences and incidents-people feel let down and disappointed.

I hope for a Justice Secretary and home Secretary who is not overly worried about what the papers say and is more worried about making sure the Justice system is just that a system that delivers Justice.