Peter Rhodes on barristers, holiday queues and following the accused on Google Earth
Mea culpa. In Tuesday's misleading column I suggested the war in Ukraine has been raging since last year. In fact, it's been going on since February this year. It just feels longer.
With thousands of court cases stuck in a wretched log-jam, be thankful that barristers have at last accepted their latest pay offer. These latter-day Rumpoles are the lubricant in the wheels of justice. They are also the only professional group in the UK which freely admits to having a criminal practice.
Talking of criminals, there was a time, before t'internet, when a national court report would tell you that the accused lived in Dodgers Crescent, East London and, unless you knew the area, you were none the wiser.
Today, however, we have Google Earth which means you can not only locate Dodgers Crescent but activate the little yellow man (aka Pegman) and take a virtual stroll through the defendant's patch
I've done it a few times recently. It's a revelation.
You might expect someone accused of GBH, murder or street robbery to eke out a miserable, poverty-blighted existence in some bleak sink estate. Not necessarily. Some of the accused inhabit leafy avenues in sought-after neighbourhoods, in streets lined with BMWs and Jags.
It could be, of course, that the defendants I've Googled are entirely innocent, have no criminal record, will be acquitted by the court and are fully entitled to their luxury homes and slap-up lifestyles. But if they turn out to be guilty with a string of previous convictions, aren't we entitled to ask how they have lived so well for so long without being questioned under the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act and ordered to pay up? Perhaps, before passing sentence, the judge might take a Google Earth peek at lovely Dodgers Crescent.
Bit crime-heavy today. Two men who robbed a shop in Catshill near Bromsgrove were said to have “thick” Birmingham accents. As opposed to what? A refined Birmingham accent?
“Heathrow is expecting a busy Christmas travel period this year” (report this week). I fancy I can already hear the moans of those hacked-off queuers who read this warning but assumed it was an invitation.
