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"BNP man prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned for 18 months in 1998."
10 years ago.
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act anybody?
It's a spent conviction. Shame on the newspaper for publicising it. (I hope he sues their 'sorry a*ses' and obtains punitive damages.)
Wow!
"Arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm."
"As the reporter walked to the photographer, who was inside his car, the photographer saw Mr Goodricke come back to the front door brandishing what appeared to be a handgun.
The photographer was not close enough to determine whether the gun was real."
The photographer was in a car. Was he close enough to 'determine' whether it might have been an imitation gun? Was he close enough to determine whether it might've been a piece of fruit?
I hope it goes to court, but I doubt even CPS would be stupid enough to prosecute.
Barnsley Photographer: "Well, yer honour, I saw this man with what might have been a gun (or it might've been summat else) but we didn't like him 'cos he's BNP and we went to his house to grill him over a spent conviction which we wanted to publicise in our paper - we wuz goin to ignore the law about that - and we want him to go to jail."
Goodricke's brief (questioning the photographer):"Mr Photog, was Mr Goodricke holding a banana in his hand?"
Photog (puzzled): "Dunno, don't think so."
Lawyer: "You said Mr Goodricke was holding a handgun. Are you sure it wasn't a banana?"
Photog: "Yes"
- in which case the lawyer says: "But you you just said that you don't know what Mr Goodricke was holding in his hand! - Make your mind up! Was Mr Goodricke holding a banana or a handgun? ... Do you know what Mr Goodricke was holding in his hand? Are you prepared to swear before this court that you saw Mr Goodricke holding a handgun?"
Or Photog says: "No" in which case:
Lawyer: "Well what was Mr Goodricke holding in his hand?"
Photog: "Dunno."
What a farce! How credible is that witness? "I think he might've had a gun, or he might've had a banana, or he might've had a sarnie...I was too far away to see." How long do you think the trial's going to last?
At the end of the trial, Mr Goodricke would be advised to sue the Barnsley Chronicle and the police. I hope he does so and I hope he makes a fortune! - Not because I support Mr Goodricke or the BNP, but because I wouldn't want to live in a country where:
(a) The media (or any other group) can ignore the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (or any other law) with seemingly absolute impunity.
or
(b) The police can arrest an individual on the strength of hearsay or other accusations unsupported by hard evidence.
I note the article doesn't talk about the recovery of a handgun. Did the police release Mr Goodricke without charge? Has he been charged with any offence?
Is being a member of the BNP a criminal offence in England?
It appears that persecuting an individual contrary to the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act is NOT actionable in criminal law. How sad.
Look on the bright side. Many people are bitching about the number of illegal immigrants. If you can manage to build yourselves a real police state, that should reduce the illegal immigration problem dramatically. - How many immigrants risk their lives in tiny boats trying to get to Cuba every year? How many people are in a great hurry to break into North Korea? - They don't have anything like the BNP there; it might be an ideral destination for some people ...
Rupert
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