Archive for the ‘Justice’ Category
Posted by Shirley Anne on April 20, 2012
Breath carbon monoxide monitoring device displaying results of a test. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Recently it was reported that a fully qualified gas fitter/engineer has been jailed for manslaughter. His neglect caused the death of a woman through carbon-monoxide poisoning. He hadn’t taken the care to fix the flue pipe to the house gas boiler securely which caused the lethal gas to enter a bathroom where the unfortunate woman met her end. His work record was immaculate but that didn’t prevent him being prosecuted. He was given a three-year term in prison. No doubt he and his family will be devastated but no more so than the family of the departed. It is so easy to pass judgement in cases like this but we are all capable of making mistakes. Fortunately most of the mistakes we usually make do not end with the death of another person. Professional people have a greater responsibility to get things right especially where it can be a risk to health or danger to life as in the case of the gas engineer. I work in a similar industry in that any work I carry out must be completely safe with no risk to the customer who relies on me doing my job correctly, safely and within the industry’s standards and regulations. Occasionally I come across dangerous wiring, switches and fittings in the course of carrying out my work. I always advise people in cases like these and point out the potential danger to them, Minor problems I will fix there and then, often without charge but anything I do has to comply with the current regulations. If I carry out work that involves breaking into existing circuits that are faulty or dangerous I either have to refuse the work and point out the problems or carry out the work whilst at the same time bringing the existing faulty or dangerous circuit up to standard and compliant with the regulations. The permission to alter existing circuits remain with the customer and if that permission isn’t granted the new work doesn’t get done. Often I have refused to do work because existing circuits have been in a dangerous condition and the customer won’t pay the extra price for having them fixed. In other words I refuse to leave any work that I do compromised because of existing faults, any work I do will then be guaranteed to meet with current regulations. Of course I become liable for any work that I carry out which has not met with the strict standards and regulations. It is more than my job is worth not to do the job correctly in the first place. It is just as easy to do things right as to do them wrong but if done wrong the consequences don’t bear thinking about.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Work, Justice, Knowledge | Tagged: Bristol Crown Court, Carbon monoxide, Carbon monoxide poisoning, Gas Safe Register, Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Health and Safety Executive | 1 Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on January 5, 2012
During the proceedings both yesterday and today we, the jurors, were dismissed from court a couple of times so that matters of law could be discussed outside of our hearing. This afternoon the same thing happened and when we returned after about ten minutes or so the judge informed us that because of the lack of solid evidence and the inconsistency of the woman’s account he was going to direct the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. A foreman was appointed for we hadn’t reached that decision between ourselves yet and he announced a not guilty verdict in response to the clerk of the court‘s statements. As a jury we had been discussing the case each time we were returned to our deliberation room so we had pretty much decided the same result. We informed the judge of that fact when he subsequently closed the case. This woman weighed in at 17 and a half stone and there was no way a mere strap of a lad who was skinny anyway, would have been able to force her into submission whether she was drunk or not. In fact she had consumed over a bottle of vodka and a couple of lagers during the day. She had been staying at the home of a friend and went out to buy some fish and chips in a local shop (they had already eaten anyway) but according to her she was lured into some local woods (some 200 yards in the opposite direction) and was assaulted but they found her shoes in another wood some distance away. The chain of events she gave just didn’t make sense to us or the judge. We think she got so drunk and incapable that she found herself indulging in some sexual activity with the lad and his mates and it turned out that the evidence pointed to the fact that she had masturbated the lad and that is what linked her DNA to his. There was no supportive evidence of her vagina having been penetrated and no sperm was found to suggest that intercourse had taken place. There was other evidence too much to repeat here but at the end of the day I would think she now faces possible charges of molesting a minor and indulging in sexual activity with a minor. I wouldn’t like to be in her boots if that is what happens. I have been released from duty for tomorrow but return on Monday ready for another case should they need me.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Justice, Law | Tagged: Court clerk, DNA, Evidence, Guilt (law), Jury, Jury duty, Legal Information, Trial | 3 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on January 4, 2012
As my readers will know I am currently on jury service. On Tuesday I had to report to the Crown Court but it wasn’t until the middle of the afternoon that I was called to be a juror on a case. I was selected and sworn in but the trial wasn’t due to start properly until this morning. For obvious reasons I must not divulge any information about the case itself until it is over but I can say that it is one of alleged rape of a 35 year-old woman by a 15 year-old youth. It is only the first day and we have heard only part of the story yet. We have been told it may stretch until Monday. We’ll have to wait and see. I am enjoying the experience this time round much as I did when I was a juror many years ago.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Justice, Law | Tagged: Crown Court, Jury, Jury duty | 4 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on September 9, 2009
In the summer of 2005 a Liverpool FC football supporter named Michael Shields was in Bulgaria celebrating Liverpool’s win. He was arrested and found guilty of attempted murder of a Bulgarian man. Although he was innocent and after somebody else had confessed to the crime in the presence of many people, he was still placed in gaol for fifteen years. That was commuted to ten years a little later. After serving two and a half years in Bulgaria he was allowed to complete his sentence back in an English gaol. Today he was given a Royal Pardon by the British Government and he is now free. However, a pardon does not mean that his name has been cleared from any wrongdoing but it is a step in the right direction. I wish him and his family the best during these happier days and hope true justice will be served in due course.
It is so sad that this sort of thing can so easily happen, especially in a foreign country where the laws are different. How many more incidences like this are played out unnoticed with the accused remaining in gaol when they are innocent?
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Justice, Law | Tagged: Justice, Law, People | 2 Comments »
