Mr Bates vs The Post Office

[Mojooo]

GiantEnemyCrab said:

simonrockman said:

mikeiow said:

LimmerickLad said:

IMO - "(2) in-house ability to prosecute - losing the necessary objectivity" was a major factor above all, as they just felt they had all the power...and at that time in fact, they did!

AFAIK, they somehow still have that power.
Not sure I have seen it stripped?

Clearly they should NO LONGER have that power, and indeed I hope and pray that the Police take action against those who have so clearly shown themselves to have been complicit in ruining so many lives.

I still feel there might only be one scapegoat, which makes me fume: it is one thing to suggest that it is a culture issue, or that they were only assuming people above knew and did the right thing, but so many SPMs (& their families) lives were utterly ruined by the actions of so many individuals, they really do need holding to account: in many cases it feels that jail is too good for them: SPMs have died or taken their own lives over this.

I went to Nick Wallis' talk at Hays. It transpires that the exceptional prosecution powers belonged to The Royal Mail, and after the separation in 2013, POL didn't have the powers, but no-one realised this and they just continued.

Edited by simonrockman on Tuesday 7th May 20:24

Is this not quite a massive issue? Eg they were prosecuting when they shouldn't have been able to?

Everyone has the right to bring a private prosecution.

You may have seen in the news the other day that a 'private police force' did a prosecution over shop lifting - should they also be banned because it is in their financial interests to prosecute and build a reputation for themselves?

The problem is that a lot of thee private ones happen because the main state prosecutors (Police/CPS) don't have the capacity to take them on

I expect we will see some sort of reform of private prosecutions - maybe some sort of a licencing system for anyone other than an individual to make sure you have proper systems in place.

[LimmerickLad]

Mojooo said:

Everyone has the right to bring a private prosecution.

You may have seen in the news the other day that a 'private police force' did a prosecution over shop lifting - should they also be banned because it is in their financial interests to prosecute and build a reputation for themselves?

The problem is that a lot of thee private ones happen because the main state prosecutors (Police/CPS) don't have the capacity to take them on

I expect we will see some sort of reform of private prosecutions - maybe some sort of a licencing system for anyone other than an individual to make sure you have proper systems in place.

Well let's hope there are some prosecutions as a result of this disgracefull behaviour........preferably by the CPS but IIRC Alan Bates already has funding in hand for private prosecutions..........I'll happily contribute to a Gofundme page to help him.

[Wills2]

Mr Clarke is going to bury some people today

[LimmerickLad]

Wills2 said:

Mr Clarke is going to bury some people today

I've not got a handle on him as yet.

[dmsims]

He's already thrown Smith and Singh under the bus

LimmerickLad said:

Wills2 said:

Mr Clarke is going to bury some people today

I've not got a handle on him as yet.

[Wills2]

LimmerickLad said:

Wills2 said:

Mr Clarke is going to bury some people today

I've not got a handle on him as yet.

Me neither it was probably too quick a reaction to his final sentences around his meeting with Rodric just before the break

Edited by Wills2 on Thursday 9th May 12:12

[outnumbered]

dmsims said:

He's already thrown Smith and Singh under the bus

Assuming that there aren't two Martin Smiths, it's interesting that Clarke actually set up his own law firm with Martin Smith when they both left Cartwright King. So he didn't seem to have a problem with him at that point.

[SydneyBridge]

I think even the post office tea lady should be watching her back today....

[vaud]

Wills2 said:

Mr Clarke is going to bury some people today

He seems a more believable witness than others. Clearer answers.

[Bonefish Blues]

Witness who answers questions shocker.

Witness who seems not to need thinking time to formulate answers double-shocker.

[LimmerickLad]

Very refreshing witness compared to the dross we have been seeing.

[balise]

Blimey how refreshing. John Scott must be nervous now - he was the shredder.

[Stussy]

Let’s hope the usual memory loss doesn’t kick in later, so far it’s actually listenable.
Very refreshing to hear properly spoken replies without 20 pauses and utterly nonsensical word salad

[Bonefish Blues]

Stussy said:

Let’s hope the usual memory loss doesn’t kick in later, so far it’s actually listenable.
Very refreshing to hear properly spoken replies without 20 pauses and utterly nonsensical word salad

A Mr Beer acolyte, I note

[simon_harris]

I am slightly behind but doesn't the phone conversation between clarke and jenkins indicate a predilection from Jenkins to hide horizon bugs?

[Bonefish Blues]

Oof! I was deliberately mislead by PO, and elaborates.

[vaud]

balise said:

Blimey how refreshing.

Indeed. Assertive but open and direct. Minimal "can't recall".

[Bonefish Blues]

vaud said:

balise said:

Blimey how refreshing.

Indeed. Assertive but open and direct. Minimal "can't recall".

I particularly enjoyed his correction where he said 'no, my advice was simply wrong'

[dmsims]

He made a somewhat barbed point early on saying I'm not going to do the lack of recall and has proceeded along that line

[Short Grain]

Refreshingly honest witness! POL Legal team must be a bit cramped under that bus!