Scottish Judicial Meltdown
crit | 11.09.2007 10:16
In October of 1977 two young women were murdered in Edinburgh. This week their murderer, Angus Sinclair, was cleared of killing them. Evidence that strongly linking him to the murders of four other women wasn't presented in court. This is a clear sign of high-level interference to avoid embarrassing the Scottish judiciary before the Lockerbie retrial.
Helen Scott and Christine Eadie were last seen in the World's End pub on the Royal Mile so the case became known as the Worlds End murders. In 1997 a new DNA sweep was carried out by detectives from samples, including semen, found on the bodies and the ligatures used to kill them.
FBI profilers presented with the evidence identified another four murders of women that were uniquely similar to the Worlds End murders. One of the murders had already resulted in a successful prosecution for which some man has already served thirty years. It was decided by a senior figure in the crown office not to lead with this evidence to the judge, and to prosecute each case seperately, despite protests from the police. The Worlds End case however was the key identifier linking the other murders. With the collapse of that case, five unsolved murder inquiries are being dropped by the police, and an innocent man rots in prison for the sixth murder.
This decision was taken to avoid exposing the previous miscarriage of justice from thirty years ago. At this point in time the Scottish judiciary is facing a retrial of Al Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing, widely seen as a sham trial which was politically motivated with evidence tampered and fabricated by the US secret services. Since then the Shirlie McKie case exposed incompetence and coverups at the Scottish Criminal Record Office, leading to the dismissal of all their fingerprint staff - although no retrials for those convicted using their fake fingerprint evidence.
The Lord Advocate at the time the decision was taken to split the murder prosecutions was Colin Boyd. The Lord Advocate at the time the SCRO scandal was Colin Boyd. The lead prosecutor at the Lockerbie trial was Colin Boyd.
The Lockerbie trial was an international trial under the auspices of the UN but carried out under Scottish law using Scottish prosecutors and judges. The stench of the Scottish justice system is now so rank that the UN should send to Scotland international judges to retry every Scottish prosecution for the last thirty years.
FBI profilers presented with the evidence identified another four murders of women that were uniquely similar to the Worlds End murders. One of the murders had already resulted in a successful prosecution for which some man has already served thirty years. It was decided by a senior figure in the crown office not to lead with this evidence to the judge, and to prosecute each case seperately, despite protests from the police. The Worlds End case however was the key identifier linking the other murders. With the collapse of that case, five unsolved murder inquiries are being dropped by the police, and an innocent man rots in prison for the sixth murder.
This decision was taken to avoid exposing the previous miscarriage of justice from thirty years ago. At this point in time the Scottish judiciary is facing a retrial of Al Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing, widely seen as a sham trial which was politically motivated with evidence tampered and fabricated by the US secret services. Since then the Shirlie McKie case exposed incompetence and coverups at the Scottish Criminal Record Office, leading to the dismissal of all their fingerprint staff - although no retrials for those convicted using their fake fingerprint evidence.
The Lord Advocate at the time the decision was taken to split the murder prosecutions was Colin Boyd. The Lord Advocate at the time the SCRO scandal was Colin Boyd. The lead prosecutor at the Lockerbie trial was Colin Boyd.
The Lockerbie trial was an international trial under the auspices of the UN but carried out under Scottish law using Scottish prosecutors and judges. The stench of the Scottish justice system is now so rank that the UN should send to Scotland international judges to retry every Scottish prosecution for the last thirty years.
crit
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Guilty until proven guilty
13.09.2007 19:28
It has also led to knee-jerk hysteria in the Scottish parliament. The Labour and Conservative party have demanded an end to two long-standing legal safe-guards. Firsty, an end to 'double-jeopardy', the fundamental right not to be tried twice for the same crime. Secondly, the end of the right for a jury not to be informed of an accuseds previous convictions. These are historical rights which have been regarded as 'cornerstones of the justice system'.
Double-jeopardy was recently abolished in England but remains a fundamental right in the US, all EU states except England and Wales, India, and Japan. Regardless of arguments for and against double jeopardy, it hould not be impinged upon by a case such as this which displays clear legal incompetence caused by political interference.
Likewise, regardless of the rights and wrongs of telling a jury of previous offences, the failure of this prosecution should not be allowed to demolish this centuries old civil-liberty. The evidence in this case was never presented to the jury for deliberation, and the judge who through out the case would have been aware of the accuseds previous convictions.
So Scotland political elite have reacted to a politically scuppered trial by demanding even fewer protections for citizens from state prosecution.
crit