The news has broken of the government's pernicious plan to reveal past convictions, acquittals and character evidence in court.

There will now be no more need of evidence after a first (possibly wrongful) conviction, or a first (possibly rightful) acquittal and the police, under intense pressure for results, will clear up their statistical caseload by going after the same wretched 'usual suspects', again and again, and railroading them through the courts, with legions wrongfully convicted and jailed, and many cruelly condemned unjustly to a life sentence by instalments.


The admission of acquittals as well as convictions means that the police will be able to add acquittals up into convictions, and acquittal plus a new charge will now equal a conviction.


To borrow the colourful Texas expression, from now on British justice won't be 'worth a pitcher of warm piss'.



V Townley, London