After the deadline for the local newspapers this week, the court case against Tom Minshull who was accused of the manslaughter of Adrian Cooksey concluded - with the jury taking 90 minutes (according to the press) to reach a "Not guilty" verdict. Mr Cooksey was found lying in Spa Road in the early hours of 9th March and died later in hospital.

I wasn't in court, but from the reports, and from speaking directly with professionals who were involved with the case on both sides as it went through the system, the case was far from an obvious one. There was extensive local disquiet, and there would have major surprise had a "guilty" verdict been returned. That said, the prosecution must have thought they had a good chance, but I personally don't know how or why.

So - was it the 'right' verdict? Well - yes - but only as far as it can go.

In Scotland, I understand that three verdicts are possible in similar cases - "Guilty" as in England, "Not Proven" which means "He possibly did it, but we can't be sure beyond reasonable doubt" and "Not Guilty" which means "No - he didn't do it".

Tom's defense, which (if it is why the jury reached the decision that it did), was that Adrian was killed by someone else. Tom's connection was merely that he was in the area at the time, and didn't even know what had happened close to where he was, until much later. Which implies that a Scots "Not Guilty" rather than a watered down English one would have been the verdict had the crime taken place in Montrose not Melksham. Yet that is just my speculation, which I understand is now allowed with the case concluded.

Because we don't know for sure what the Scots verdict would have been, we are now left with a most unsatisfactory situation, where each key player is a victim. Adrian Cooksey is dead, and his family grieve. Tom Minshull has been through what must have been the most daunting 8 months, and surely won't be able to walk away as if nothing has happened to him. Yet bearing in mind the "mistaken identity" defense if that is why the jury deliberated as they did, it goes even deeper. It could have been you or me that the police picked up (I often walk along Spa Road). And the person who actually struck the killer blow is still unreprimanded by the law and is probably still in our midst.
(written 2009-11-14)

 Z700 - People
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  [388] BBQ Season - (2005-07-24)
  [392] No Smoking - (2005-07-27)
  [423] A Victorian Lady - (2005-08-23)
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  [1065] Graham Ellis - an Introduction - (2007-02-05)
  [1107] Weekend Visitors - (2007-03-13)
  [1119] The Last Word on the road - (2007-03-26)
  [1151] Gordon Dodge, R.I.P. - (2007-04-16)
  [1197] Back off home with our best wishes - (2007-05-21)
  [1238] The kind spirit of Melksham - (2007-06-21)
  [1279] The Gdansk fireball - (2007-07-27)
  [1303] Heading Upstate New York - (2007-08-14)
  [1385] Delegates of all shapes and sizes - (2007-10-09)
  [1522] Paging Martin Noke, who petitions for more trains from Trowbridge to Swindon - (2008-01-28)
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  [1627] Amazing family members - (2008-05-02)
  [1916] Why I remember East Grafton - (2008-12-02)
  [1980] Michelle - (2009-01-06)
  [1988] Melksham, Wiltshire. Town Crier Competition, 2009 - (2009-01-11)
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  [2886] Congratulations, Kimberly - (2010-07-25)
  [3008] Dulwich College Preparatory, and Sevenoaks, Schools - (2010-10-21)
  [3034] Birth Notice - Aeryn Cassandra Ellis - (2010-11-07)
  [3055] Zyliana Kyrei Cox - (2010-11-16)
  [3125] The family is defunct. Long live the family. - (2011-01-09)
  [3184] Visiting relatives - (2011-02-26)
  [3268] Baby Pictures - (2011-04-27)
  [3297] A long day, a long journey, and families and similarities the world over - (2011-05-22)
  [3298] Quiet Monday in - (2011-05-23)
  [3355] Family Pictures - (2011-07-12)
  [3466] Passing of Steve Jobs - R.I.P. - (2011-10-06)
  [3512] A colleague and friend who changed my life - (2011-11-07)
  [3775] Alan Turing - 1912 to 1954 - (2012-06-23)
  [3905] How should we choose our Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner? - (2012-10-27)
  [3981] Melksham - a town of some remarkable people - (2013-01-19)
  [4193] Using our non-found page to help look for missing persons - (2013-10-18)
  [4349] When I am old, what will worry me? - (2014-12-11)
  [4482] People in New York - (2015-05-02)
  [4646] Sometimes you wonder about people. And perhaps you should not. - (2016-02-13)
  [4728] Visiting Los Alamitos Bay Yacht Club - (2016-11-23)
  [4736] Our changing world - (2017-04-17)

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Admission
Good example of recursion in Python - analyse an RSS feed
I almost put the bins out this morning
Learning to program in ...
Melksham manslaughter case concludes - sort of
Monday night, Tuesday night
Simples
Dynamically formatting your results (Lua)
ourdog is Greyhound, Staffie and Ginger Cake
Remembrance Sunday 2009, Melksham