The law is (or was) an Ass. A murder case some thirty years ago is being revisited in the hope of quashing a young man’s conviction and jailing for life. During a house robbery an elderly man suffered bruises and fractured ribs and died from a bleeding stomach ulcer a week later. The prosecution successfully argued that the stress of the incident caused his ulcer to bleed and the Jury found the young burglar guilty of murder. Even if the prosecution argument were true, surely he should have been convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. The burglar served seven years with hard labour before being released on parole.
At the trial the State Pathologist gave evidence saying that stress had caused the ulcer to bleed and the Jury took his evidence on board.
His appeal against the conviction has been under way since 2005 and now has the backing of Nobel Prizewinners Marshall and McClusker who maintain that stress is not a factor in bleeding ulcers. Prof. Marshall and Malcom McCusker won the Nobel with their studies on the causes of stomach ulcers proving that bacteria and not stress causes stomach ulcers.
Surely the conviction must be overturned.
1 comment:
Kev, I agree, the law is an ass.How many more innocent people will go to jail for crimes they didn't commit?As for that that poor woman with MS, Barbara Harrison, who had to die alone without friends or family with her in case they were charged with helping her to die. I think this world is in a very sad state when people with terminal illness have to suffer pain and the loss of control over their lives because they are not permitted to end their lives. We treat our animals with more compassion than our fellow man. Imagine letting a dog suffer for years, Marg
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