The appeal that had to come

Murderers pile on agony for the Lawrence parents: Norris and Dobson will use legal aid to appeal against convictions

THE two race-hate thugs jailed for murdering Stephen Lawrence are to appeal against their convictions, it emerged [...]
David Norris, 35, and Gary Dobson, 36, will claim that their six-week trial, which resulted in unanimous guilty verdicts, was unfair.
Their move, which will prolong the agony of Stephen’s campaigning parents Doreen and Neville, is expected to take the killers’ legal aid bill through the £1million barrier.
Gary Dobson (left) and David Norris are to appeal their convictions for the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the Court of Appeal revealed today

Not having been at the trial myself, I've no real idea if it was fair. Having weighed up all the evidence available to the public, chances are the trial was very unfair.

They probably are guilty. Probably is a far cry from 'Beyond all reasonable doubt'. Considering the farce of the original investigation, the heavily biased McPherson report and the original acquittals, probably is likely to be the best we can get.

Considering the fact they they were once found not guilty and that the subsequent publicity would deny them any kind of impartial trial, they should never have been back in court a second time.

This appeal was inevitable. But considering the publicity, I'm wondering if there is a judge out there who would order a retrial.

British Justice has taken a big enough hit over this debacle with the loss of Double Jeopardy. Questioning their right to appeal or to be granted access to legal aid to do so is not what we need right now.

In order to survive, the British justice system needs competent and thorough police investigations followed by solid convictions in court. There is no longer any chance of this happening with the Stephen Lawrence case. The most we can hope for now is show trials and unsafe convictions based on an assumption of guilt.

We can also hope for seriously illiberal changes to our justice system like the loss of double jeopardy and the proposed changes to the bail system after the murder of Jane Clough.

We are moving slowly towards a court of public opinion. Mass media and public pressure is doing serious damage to justice in our country.

Yes, they probably are guilty. In a free society, it is better that a guilty man go free than an innocent man go to prison.



(Yes I know, what if it was your kid etc, etc....)