General Chat

My point is not that people arent entitled ,my point is how can a lawyer defend someone who has done such a terrible crime when its obvious that they are guilty!! innocent until proven Yes!!but in some cases its 100% that they are guilty, without a trial!

I agree that everyone is entitled to a defence no matter how heinous the crime. It is the premise ' innocent until found guilty' that makes this country civilised. Where I would differ from a lot of people is that I think the punishment should fit the crime. Any adult found guilty of a crime against a child in my mind has forfeited their human rights. Anyone found guilty of the sexual assault on this baby should spend the rest of their life in prison with no hope of parole. Jean x.

I totally agree with Twinkle, Maz and Fred. British law dictates that a person is innocent until proven guilty and no-one can have a fair trial without a defence counsel. It seems some people would prefer the media nad the police to decide who is guilty - remember both have got it wrong in the past.

Roxanne, 'No conscience'? Court work is a game lawyers play. They will have little trouble finding someone to defend them Money and ambition almost always will over-rule any reluctance. They may well argue that they are there to defend the law. Correct, but not wholly truthful. Happy days

modest too ......

Fred you have explained it perfectly - how did you know that was exactly what I wanted to say but couldn't get the right words??! Maz. XX

Excellent piece Fred, and the last line was the best

The flip side of defence lawyers knowingly defending the guilty is that prosecuters knowingly prosecute the innocent. Nobody has asked how they sleep at night, knowing that an innocent person is in prison while the guilty party is free.

One of my best friends is a barrister who does a lot of defence work - he is a lovely man with a family who works hard to ensure that legal procedure is followed and justice is dispensed accordingly. He most certainly is NOT after money or fame. Twinkle is right - if a 'suspect' is denied their legal rights, then we might as well live under a dictatorship and deny them to everyone.

Are people here seriously suggesting that some people who are accused (not convicted) of some crimes should be denied access to a free and fair trial? That 'innocent until proven guilty' should not apply to certain suspects? That hysteria should substitute for proof, just so long as someone, anyone, is convicted for a particularly nasty crime?

oh dont worry ,, there will be someone out there quite willing to defend these scum bags,and guess who will pay for thier court costs... yep us. the do -gooders will be out in force telling us what hard lives these poor things had, im sick and tired of hearing it, its about time the 'boot was on the other foot' now,its gone too far the perverts way. that poor baby has to live with the mental and physical scars the rest of her life, what 'pleasure' these men have from a baby is beyond me. they are lower than animals as no animal that im aware of rapes its young. about time capital punishment came back. all they will do with these is lock them up for what? maybe 5 yrs. if thier unlucky,, then back out on our sts to do it all over , how many times are we going to sit back and allow this to happen to our children, we locked glitter up and now look at him. out raping someone elses children, he should have swung....enough of the liberal treatment of these perverts, and anyone who stands up to defend these should swing with them!. im totally disgusted and horrified that this has happened. im glad im not any of thier mothers.

Harry, I think your right, if thats the case they obviously have No conscience to do such a job, they have the right to refuse to take the case, dont they?

As Judge Lynch said, ' We'll give them a fair trial! then hang'em!' in the case of these people thats about as much justice as they deserve. Len

Roxanne, Two things would influence a lawyer. Money and the publicity the trial will bring. (sad but)happy days

On our local news here in Newport they have asked people living near the house there about the peopl living there and no one new it was being used to house these offenders and there is a school less than half a mile up the road the parents are so worried but the dogooders will come out and defend them the mind boggles Howardxx

i have to do another jury service in a few weeks and i pray each time not to have a case along these lines. i'd personally stand and call for the judge to 'hang him' and then end up in contempt of court!! the difficult bit also is being with 11 other people where you will invariably find one who believes the defence. jane.

Simon, My thoughts too, If by some small chance, a person who has committed such a dreadful crime gets off by some technicality, Im sure it would be something a Defense lawyer would regret, and it must be with them always.

Chop their bits off.

I'm not in the 'states' but the 'State' gives us things. Its not meant as a US referance. :-)

Strangely, for 'true' lawyers with a long-held calling for the law, this is just the sort of thing they signed up for. Acting as defence counsel is in many ways there to 'moderate' the procedings, and for someone with a belief in the spirit of the law/justice system, the key responsibilty is to ensure that proceedings are fair and don't descend into witchunt - part of doing this involves ensuring that anyone - however obviously guilty, is still afforded an accurate defense. It must haunt them personally, I would think, nevertheless. Simon