I am just so bored of this story. I am even more bored that people still think that charges is a presumption of guilt. We have seen in recent months people just being arrested is enough for the mob and the media to presume guilt and yell it from the roof-tops. Look at Rebecca Leighton. Everyone said she was guilty because she was arrested and described as the saline nurse killer. Turn out she wasn’t guilty and was in fact totally innocent. Look at Chris Jefferies. Arrested over the murder of Jo Yeates and you know what – he wasn’t guilty. I could go on and on and on…
The system we have is really quite simple. The presumption should be of innocence until proven otherwise. That is how the legal system is set up. Seems simple enough yes? However when it comes to the media that premise has disappeared and as for the mob they are extremely fickle. What is the difference between Rebecca Leighton, Chris Jefferies and Julian Assange? The only difference is the mob like Julian Assange and even though his charges are that of rape the mob are happy to overlook this. Well they were when the bandwagon was rolling anyway. Less so now.
So here we are on a Friday morning and the CPS have ended their nine-month long investigation into the Chris Huhne/Vicky Pryce speeding points affair. It has cost the taxpayer a bomb of dosh and it hasn’t been in the public interest but they have finally filed charges. Chris Huhne has had to resign this morning because it is the thing to do. His case would be a distraction and the opposition would crow about it all the time. No innocent until proven guilty in the media or the mob and in politics it is even worse. It is most childish.
Unsurprisingly I have no idea if he is guilty. If he is then what a stupid man. Also his wife must be pretty gutted as she tried to bring down her husband in a fit of pique only to find herself in the dock for the same charges. That must have hurt. I’m guessing she doesn’t want a criminal record and if she could go back in time she would keep her gob shut whether she was telling the truth or not.
The CPS will need to prove that Chris Huhne was not driving the car. The fact it took nine months to decide whether they are going to file charges or not makes me think they are struggling with this. Maybe the e-mails between Price and The Times were the key factor but of this I doubt as what evidence is that? Scorned lover speaks to newspaper to try and get him vilified in the press. Yep sounds like good unbiased primary evidence to me.
As I said I have no idea if he is guilty or not but I do know that the CPS are not on top in this case and it is by no means a slam-dunk. It took them nine months to get to the point where they think they have enough evidence that Huhne was driving the car. They need to prove Huhne was elsewhere at that exact moment or so far away a few hours before that it is impossible he could have been in Essex. It took them nine months to get to that point? That troubles me.
Huhne denies all guilt and unlike most I will reserve judgement. I’m an innocent until proven guilty in a Court of Law kinda guy. I think everyone should follow my lead on this one. Sadly the media and the mob have spoken and in this day and age sadly that is often more than enough for most people.
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Hello Neil,
as I don’t do crosswords or play sport I rather like a good puzzle – particularly if it involves legal matters. I thought it might be a change for you to read someones ramblings rather than write!
Like you, I’m bored with the constant headlines about the Huhne speeding/perverting justice case and frustrated that the background has not been discussed, except for a Daily Mail article when the issue first came to light.
Having some knowledge of, and personal experience of the CPS & the police, it does seem as if they are, as you say ‘struggling’. The Daily Mail did some calculations on the timings for a car reaching the speed camera that is believed to be the one that copped the speeding but I think the newspaper has missed the point. The question is whether she went to pick him up from the airport or whether he had his own car there; and if she went to collect him, who took the wheel back into London? Timing is largely irrelevant because they or he, could not leave the airport until the plane had landed & he had reached either a pick-up point or his own car in airport parking. In either case, a car could in theory just about reach the speed camera by 11.23 (the time of the speeding according to sources used by the press).
So which car was snapped? If his BMW (H11 HNE) it seems very likely he had his car at the airport; if not that car, it is likely to be her although he may have taken over the driving back from the airport.
If I was a detective I’d want to look at airport parking camera footage and ask neighbours if his car was parked at their home. Although it seems people are rather reluctant to get involved – I can’t believe no-one noticed what time she left the LSE function.
What interests me, as a driving expert, is that people are willing to take the risk of facing prison by lying to avoid a driving ban. Why not employ a full time chauffeur when you’ve as much money as Chris Huhne? I’m guessing Huhne’s driving is as bad as most drivers (BMW 7 series with personal plate adds weight!) but having previous speeding convictions and then a conviction for using a phone while driving do not necessarily mean he was acting carelessly – we do not know the exact circumstances. I have been convicted of speeding where the prosecution’s police officer witness described my driving as ‘entirely safe & responsible’. The CPS, according to their own procedures, should not have brought my case to court.
This whole thing only encourages people to believe the myth that driving up to the speed limit is safe and exceeding it is unsafe and the gullible typical driver falls for this propaganda.