‘Craven Abdication Of Responsibility’

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Last week I took a poke at the Crown Prosecution Service for foolishly sending a case to court involving a trivial injury by a Pritt Stick. I made the point that some cases require the application of a good dose of common sense.

Yesterday a man was cleared by Sheffield Crown Court of a charge of rape falsely brought by a woman who eighteen months earlier had made a similar false claim against a man who ended up committing suicide as a result.

In the latest case, the judge said, ‘The evidence did not, and was never going to, prove rape’. Judge Patrick Robertshaw went on to deliver a scathing attack on the Crown Prosecution Service, part of which is worth repeating here:

‘The prime overriding consideration in the CPS’s decision had been merely that the complainant wished the case to go ahead. It was little short of a craven abdication of responsibility for making an independent and fair minded assessment of the case. It is quite astonishing these decisions are made by those who simply do not have experience of what happens in Crown Court because they never come into Crown Court. They sit behind desks and make decisions that result in this sort of trial taking place.’

The shocking thing is that, after making such allegations against two innocent men, the woman involved cannot be named. The law here should be changed, and quickly.

One hopes that someone will shake up the Crown Prosecution Service who are also heavily criticised this morning for bringing the case against two ten-year-old boys accused of raping an eight-year-old girl who some say may merely have been playing ‘doctors and nurses’.
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No Answers, Only Questions

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History of sorts is being made in the Old Bailey with the shocking trial of two ten-year-old boys accused of raping an eight-year-old girl in West London. They are believed to be the youngest ever in Britain to face trial for this offence.

I’ve often said that children of today seem more grown-up than they did in my day over fifty years ago. In truth, while they remain children, they probably mimic what they see on television or on their games consoles. Whether they have much understanding of what they see and do or what consequences follow is another thing.

Sex? - I didn’t know what it meant. Rape? - I’d never heard of the word. When I was ten years old, I was engrossed in the Dandy and Beano comics. I waited impatiently for the next weekly instalment of ‘Journey Into Space’ on the radio. I enjoyed watching ‘Children’s Hour’ on the television and especially the antics of Muffin the Mule. I kicked balls around with my chums and helped to teach the Minah birds in Clissold Park how to swear and fished for minnows in the lake there.

Along with the vast majority of my chums, I showed respect or else faced the consequences. Misbehave in a public space, we’d be approached by a park warden or a policeman to whom the greatest respect had to be shown lest a cheeky answer be followed by a clip round the ear.

Increasingly it seems that we hear about crimes committed by younger and younger children; crimes of burglary, theft, graffiti, violence and even murder are among them.

Where do these children get their ideas from? What are their parents teaching them? What do they learn in school? What do they see and learn around them?

More importantly, how can their behaviour be corrected? I have no answers but I do hope someone has for the children of today are the adults of tomorrow.
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