Re: Andrew Mitchell - Update : Wed Feb 26, 2014 7:43 pm
Ferocious Aardvark wrote:
As a non-member (I think) of the SBLBSC can I ask what the fook you're talking about?
Guilty? Innocent?
The issue seemed to focus on whether Mitchell called the police "plebs". I have scoured the Statue books yet can find no such offence as "Calling someone a pleb".
I have scoured the news reports yet can find no report of any criminal charges pending against Mitchell for anything he allegedly said.
The question is thus simply, What did he say? There is no "presumption of innocence" whatsoever in this context. Indeed, albeit in the sphere of civil law, not criminal, Mitchell is going to court, suing Newsgroup for libel as he denies saying what they reported. In that case, it is actually positively up to him to prove he was libelled, so the burden of proof is actually on him. As the courts have given the Sun effectively a free punt, this may be no easy task for him.
Guilty? Innocent?
The issue seemed to focus on whether Mitchell called the police "plebs". I have scoured the Statue books yet can find no such offence as "Calling someone a pleb".
I have scoured the news reports yet can find no report of any criminal charges pending against Mitchell for anything he allegedly said.
The question is thus simply, What did he say? There is no "presumption of innocence" whatsoever in this context. Indeed, albeit in the sphere of civil law, not criminal, Mitchell is going to court, suing Newsgroup for libel as he denies saying what they reported. In that case, it is actually positively up to him to prove he was libelled, so the burden of proof is actually on him. As the courts have given the Sun effectively a free punt, this may be no easy task for him.
He will have to prove his reputation has been damaged...