Interesting that the Tribunal accepted the word of Charnley over Maguire for a number of reasons given there was no supportive evidence. 1) Although not the criminal burden of proof (beyond a reasonable doubt now more often stated as “must be satisfied so that you are sureâ€) that is the test the tribunal said it used. While it is possible to find someone guilty on the word of 1 witness the witness has to be truly compelling.
2)The Tribunal said that Charnley was convincing given his reaction at the time and could therefore not have mis heard. In fact if Charnley had genuinely mis heard his reaction would have been the same.
3) I wonder to what extent Maguires’ previous influenced the decision. The Tribunal will have known of his last offence even if it was not “officially†before them. In criminal proceedings eg jury trial the jury can only be told of “previous†in specific circumstances. one of those is where the Defendant asserts his good character, which seemingly Maguire did “I would never use those wordsâ€. That leads me to
4) Charnley’s “characterâ€. This is a man who has for years cheated/attempted to cheat with that ridiculous “trapping†manoeuvre.
Having said all that and picking up on a point made by Saddened. The evidence that is given at the hearing is not something that is in the hands of the club. In fact witnesses are not allowed to be coached but they can be “rehearsed a fine but significant distinction. The bottom line is however that Maguire seems to be thicker than a doorstep sandwich.
In fact trying to compare Saints appeal success against Maguires’ appearance is a false equivalence. Their appeals have been where there is video evidence which is able to be studied and analysed. This obviously was not the case, had there been I have no doubt that lip readers would have been utilised. So on this occasion, surprisingly, Saddend’s dig at the club is unwarranted.
Finally WHETHER he appeals will tell us a lot about how strongly he feels and what assessment was made by the lawyers involved as to what happened at the Tribunal and the likelihood of success.
