Witchfinding

[kingandy]

This morning's news was filled with coverage of the fallout from the conviction of murderer Ian Huntley. People are mostly kicking up a stink about the fact that he managed to get a job at a school (as janitor) "despite past allegations of rape and underage sex," and that these allegations weren't brought up during the trial.

The problem I have with this coverage is this: Being accused of a crime is not, in itself, a crime.

Apparently he shouldn't have got a job like that anyway, since he was once actually convicted of theft or something, which makes the "police incompetence" issue no less pressing, but that's hardly ever mentioned on the news reports or articles; everyone's focussing on the unproven allegations. Plus, of course, after being accused of such things it is rather incriminating - one might say stupid - to then actively seek out work with children. Not actually criminal though.

I don't know, I'm no law expert, but it seems like bad reporting to me. Not to mention sensationalist. Any of my journo friends care to comment?

Oh ... and on a completely unrelated note ... RotK review (no spoilers)

Comments

[stsquad.livejournal.com]

Of course its sensationalism. Nothing sells papers better than stories
about "monsters" and sleazy revelations. Add in the the moral
indignation and finger pointing and you have a classic media scrum.

No you shouldn't bring up past allegations in court (I was surprised
about the one rape allegation that was mentioned in open court,
however that was part of Maxine Carrs defence). I'm even hesitant
about bringing in past convictions, although I can see given the
escalating pattern of these sort of crimes there may be a case for it.
IMHO though the evidence the prosecution had available was damning
enough in itself.

Of course the standards of a fair court system can be waived for the
screening process you go through for working with children. Its
precautionary and if kept confidential the people who fail the test
can do other stuff. I would be less easy about a publically available
register because of the vigilante issue, as well as a belief that
people can be rehabilitated.

Of course for all the moral panic and "evil predatory pedophiles
monsters lurking around every corner" that get the Daily Mail set
so wound up the real tragedy is as a child you are still more likely to be
abused and/or killed by your biological parents. But of course it doesn't make as good copy :-(

[nattydreadi.livejournal.com]

I had to go through a police check just to train to be a teacher ... mine took about 3 months due to being Northern Irish, they have to check for terrorist connections (apparently schools can get their hands on all sorts of snacky stuff)

My cousin had the same problem when he went into the Army with having us respectable Middle Class Northern Irish cousin types in his family.

Police checks are thorough in a word and the fact that he was accused of a crime but never convicted will go on his record but will not stop him from being given a job in that environment because the innocent until proven guilty does normally happen unless the trial is sensationalised by the media.

In saying that I hope that Huntley rots in the deepest circle of hell for he is a bad egg.

apparently schools can get their hands on all sorts of snacky stuff

[kingandy]

Our school had radioactive materials. So cool.

Good Kicking?

[anne-l-davies.livejournal.com]

Hmm.

Ok, the previous crimes would normally never get mentioned in Court. As you say, it was part of Carr's defence, which is why there was some insight as to Huntley's 'previous'.
What most of the media is screaming about is that Humberside police were exceptionally incompetent, and were no where near as thorough as they should have been. If they had checked both surnames that Cambridgeshire police had given them, then apparently the burglary conviction would have come up and he would never have got the job - the theory therefore is that Holly and Jessica would still be alive.

However, given the huge number of 'Ian Huntley did X to me' stories currently littering the tabloids, it would seem that the man was something of a ticking time-bomb, who the authorities in Humberside appeared to have chosen to ignore (on at least one occasion the police didn't even bother to pass their file to the CPS for a decision as to whether to prosecute). It is arguable that by moving to Cambridgeshire, doing what he did and getting caught, he has at least been stopped from abusing an even larger number of young girls.

Oh and Grimbsy Social Services appear to have F**ked up here in a major way as well, although they seem to bve avoiding most of the flak at the moment.

It is interesting (at least if you're a lawyer) to note that the government have been considering for some time lifting the restrictions about referring to previous in Court. Probably this is as a result of cases where someone has been convicted and then it turns out that they had a string of previous, or, more likely because of the people who get aquitted by juries and then are revealed to be 'career criminals'. Juries apparently would be influenced by such information, which is the major problem with the proposal, as it then removes the 'innocent until proven guilty' presumption.

It's also interesting in this case that Huntley's defence was absolute shite. The defence he presented would have been interesting if the jury was made up of 12 lawyers. At the moment lawyers can't do Jury service, so it was 12 'lay people'. The chances of such a jury having an in depth discussion on the legal principles of 'intention' and 'mistake' are slim. If the jury had been lawyers, the decision would have taken even longer, and I have to say, Huntley may have got away with Manslaughter. There's always the possibility of course that his defence knew about the previous and decided to do a poor job (not that that ever happens of course - we always represent our clients as best we can!).

I am told that he will be in solitary for most of his sentence as the prison officers will be concerned that if he gets a good kicking he will either die (which looks bad) or sue them for something.