I finished reading Michael Mansfield's Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer yesterday. It is absolutely enthralling, though admittedly I've always been interested in the justice system and the way it works. I don't always agree with his politics but I love his enthusiasm for his cases and his ability to admit when he made a mistake and things didn't turn out how he expected.
He covers many of the famous cases of the last 30 or 40 years including the Jill Dando murder, the Marchioness disaster, the inquest into Princess Diana's death, the Bloody Sunday enquiry and various miscarriages of justice. There are well thought out arguments for retaining jury trials for as many offences as possible and for not relying totally on DNA evidence.
The book is written in an engaging conversational style and Michael Mansfield unravels complicated subjects so that they are comprehensible to all. This is an excellent book whether you are interested in the law or in our life and times.
Showing posts with label lawns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lawns. Show all posts
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Monday, 20 July 2009
Words Can describe
Words Can Describe by Abi Grant is about her descent into hell after being attacked and sexually assaulted in the middle of the night by a stranger in her own flat. It makes harrowing reading but it is also lightened by her own wry sense of humour. After despair and addiction and being unable to work, Abi manages to rebuild her life with the help of friends and colleagues. Her attacker is not identified until twelve years after the event and brought to trial.
Abi describes the horror of the trial itself where she feels she is fighting to convince the court she was not a willing participant in the assault. The defence also tried to convince her that it was a coloured man she'd spoken to on the same evening who had attacked her. Abi knew it was definitely a white man and in the end the attacker was convicted by means of forensic and DNA evidence putting him at the scene. The jury verdict was unanimous. Abi was horrified to find he had been in prison for similar attacks and was actually on bail for another offence when he attacked her.
I found the chapter towards the end of the book about other sexual assault trials made me extremely angry because even though the attacker was a stranger some blame had been attributed to the victim . The courts would never suggest a mugging victim should not have behaved in a certain way. I can't imagine the courts would suggest a male victim of rape or sexual assault was partly responsible for the attack against him. It really is about time the defence was prevented from attacking the victim's character and attributing blame to the victim. Juries are not allowed to know about previous convictions or allegations against the defendant so why introduce previous behaviour of the victim?
Abi describes the horror of the trial itself where she feels she is fighting to convince the court she was not a willing participant in the assault. The defence also tried to convince her that it was a coloured man she'd spoken to on the same evening who had attacked her. Abi knew it was definitely a white man and in the end the attacker was convicted by means of forensic and DNA evidence putting him at the scene. The jury verdict was unanimous. Abi was horrified to find he had been in prison for similar attacks and was actually on bail for another offence when he attacked her.
I found the chapter towards the end of the book about other sexual assault trials made me extremely angry because even though the attacker was a stranger some blame had been attributed to the victim . The courts would never suggest a mugging victim should not have behaved in a certain way. I can't imagine the courts would suggest a male victim of rape or sexual assault was partly responsible for the attack against him. It really is about time the defence was prevented from attacking the victim's character and attributing blame to the victim. Juries are not allowed to know about previous convictions or allegations against the defendant so why introduce previous behaviour of the victim?
Friday, 10 April 2009
Lovely weather for ducks
I was hoping it would rain today - which sounds odd. I'd raked the lawn yesterday to get all the dead grass out of it and I wanted to put the 'weed and feed' on it. This is supposed to be done just before it rains so it gets watered in otherwise you have to do it yourself. I was just right with the timing and it started raining almost immediately the stuff had been spread on the lawn and has rained on and off for the rest of the day.
In the space of less than 24 hours the Rowan tree in the front garden has started into leaf. Wednesday when I came home from work there were no green shoots but by the time I came home from work on Thursday the leaves were clearly visible. The old nest in this tree - which is about 7 or 8 feet tall - is currently the subject of a turf war between the local blackbirds. I'm not sure why as it was formerly the home of some sparrows and I would not have thought it was big enough for the blackbirds.
Spring is sprung in this part of the world and the grass verges are starred with daffodils. We get more than our fair share of daffodils lining our country roads because farmers grow them for the bulb industry and there are always some which get left behind or thrown onto the verges. I love this time of year because everything seems new minted and fresh. The colours are more vibrant than they become later in the summer months.
Happy Easter everyone.
In the space of less than 24 hours the Rowan tree in the front garden has started into leaf. Wednesday when I came home from work there were no green shoots but by the time I came home from work on Thursday the leaves were clearly visible. The old nest in this tree - which is about 7 or 8 feet tall - is currently the subject of a turf war between the local blackbirds. I'm not sure why as it was formerly the home of some sparrows and I would not have thought it was big enough for the blackbirds.
Spring is sprung in this part of the world and the grass verges are starred with daffodils. We get more than our fair share of daffodils lining our country roads because farmers grow them for the bulb industry and there are always some which get left behind or thrown onto the verges. I love this time of year because everything seems new minted and fresh. The colours are more vibrant than they become later in the summer months.
Happy Easter everyone.
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