Not Guilty.

It does seem that the egos that started that witch hunt cannot back down?  You know the saying about pride.........

One can only assume that both the police and CPS lost all sense of objectivity and fell in line with the witchhunting hysteria, Lily.

Both organisations - and anyone else involved - need to explain to the public WTF they were thinking when they didn't do the most basic fact-checking.

Yes, it makes it appear like a shambles.  They will also have to tell the taxpayers why they squandered a whole heap of money and have stated that they will continue down the same path.

As the hounders had a fit of the vapours about Bill Roach's supposed sex life (which I somehow suspect was macho boasting) let's hope they never find out about Gene Simmons claims on the same subject.     

Love that guy.                 

I think they might be summing up on the Dave Lee Travis Case. Saying nothing at the moment.

Yes, I believe so, Sabot.

Odd, isn't it, that somehow or other, three celeb trials all started at the very same time? What are the odds on that? Why, it's as if someone thought three celeb scalps would look good on their 'child abuse expert' CV!

Surely not!

And someone who obviously doesn't like Coronation Street, or celebrities in general.

But this all isn't doing much for the credibility of Jimmy Savile's accusers, is it. It was a wise man who decided not to prosecute him.

And I wholeheartedly agree with the opinion that there should be a time limit on these accusations.

Sabot, I don't like Coronation Street, or celebrities in general. I don't watch soaps or reality TV, or these stupid Celebrity X Factor Dancing on Diving Boards shows.

I never did celeb-worship, they're just people, they go to the loo the same as the rest of us. But it seems to me that the people who are star-struck are the ones at the police and CPS who embarked on this celeb witch-hunt, having done naff-all for YEARS about young girls suffering most dreadfully at the hands of Asian gangs.

I guess it wasn't politically-correct to go after those undeniable scumbags? So much more acceptable to witch-hunt elderly 'celebrities' with a few quid in the bank?

This cannot go on, IMO. Either both accused and accuser are anonymous, or neither are - which means a return to the bad old days of GENUINE rape victims finding themselves virtually on trial.

The CPS cannot be allowed to carry on dragging people into court, on the word of anonymous accusers, without doing the most basic fact-checking that would have shown the claims were bogus.

Like the time-travelling Rolls Royce, and that garbage from the 'victim' who claimed that 'Mike Baldwin' warned her about Roach long before 'Mike Baldwin' appeared in Coronation Street.

That 'victim' didn't even seem to know that 'Mike Baldwin' isn't a real person...alarm bells should have been ringing long ago at the CPS, IMO.

Absolutely correct, Bonny. The fact checking by The CPS was abysmal. This should be a crime.
I don't actually know what I would do with the little scum bags who blatantly colluded and lied, but anyone who thinks that this wasn't an attempt at Extortion by Law needs to do a reality check.

I sincerely hope that this latest rubbish will make them think twice.

PS. Apparently, during the course of the trial of William Roache there have been further allegations. What was this information supposed to suggest? But The CPS wouldn't dare, would they?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the allegators decided they had misremembered when the gravy train hit the buffers, Sabot.   

BTW, this sort of circus is putting women's genuine rights back decades, trivialising a heinous crime by turning it into some kind of spectator sport for the prurient and grubby-minded, and is liable to lead to a situation where genuine victims of abuse are tarred with the same brush as the non-genuine.

It's also a reminder of how close to the surface witch-hunting still is in certain sections of society, that shrieking and pointing is being regarded as 'evidence'.

bb1 wrote:I wouldn't be at all surprised if the allegators decided they had misremembered when the gravy train hit the buffers, Sabot.   

But why release this information in the first place? Except to discredit the trial and William Roache. This is the pits.

I suspect that the CPS,    and co were starting to panic when the judge threw one complaint out before it even went to the jury, Sabot. It was the first indication that their empire-building was under threat.

And yes, of course they'd concoct further smears if they thought it helped their cause and careers.

I think they're of the idea that if you throw enough mud some of it will be sure to stick, brigade?  

I used to truly admire British justice........

lily wrote:I think they're of the idea that if you throw enough mud some of it will be sure to stick, brigade?  

I used to truly admire British justice........

So did I, Lily. But if you can't trust The CPS then who can you trust?

Too many Indians and not enough Chiefs.

I think its a wtf moment:

From the Telegraph:

_______________

The defence also challenged the recollections of other alleged victims, who had been aged as young as 14 when the alleged assaults happened, and were able to show that their memories were not always accurate.

This may not have come as a surprise, but it nonetheless highlighted the problems of prosecuting historic allegations. Defendants, after all, only need to raise a reasonable doubt in jurors’ minds to secure an acquittal.

The prosecution also had to contend with Roache’s instantly-recognisable Coronation Street co-stars trooping into court to tell the jury that he was “lovely”, a “perfect gentleman”. They might also have added that he is a devotee of the obscure Pure Love Movement, a Manchester-based hippy group that believes “pure love conquers all”.

Speaking after Le Vell was acquitted in September, Mr Afzal said he had been described as a “celeb hunter” and detested the phrase “witch-hunt”, adding: “I am not shy about pursuing this type of case and will continue to do so.”

Roache’s acquittal also came as a devastating blow to his alleged victims, who came forward after he gave a TV interview talking about sleeping with 1,000 women and suggesting sex abuse victims were paying for what they had done in “previous lives”.

They said they had not reported the alleged attacks at the time they happened because they did not think anyone would believe their word against the word of Roache.

Emboldened by the Savile scandal, they told police of rapes and indecent assaults they said Roache had carried out when they were 14 and 15, but half a lifetime later, they are left having to come to terms with the fact that they are still not believed.

___________

I suppose it was really rather unsporting of the defence to challenge their evidence. So much easier all round if the poor lambs were just believed.

That's probably because nothing like that happened as they are fantasists?

Oh, didn't you know, J-P? The Age of Reason never happened and the witchcraft laws are back on the statute books.

Anyone who shrieks and points must automatically be believed cos they're Victims, innit? And they deserve compensayshun for their terrible ordeal that they'd never bothered telling anyone about (cos they were too traumatised, innit) until they saw a moneyspinning bandwagon passing.

Thank God the predominately-female jury saw through this rubbish about time-travelling Rollers, etc.

http://annaraccoon.com/2014/02/07/roaches-in-roachia/#comments

The high priests of the ‘You will be believed’ movement have a lot to answer for. They have had their fame, their financial rewards, their celebrity and Twitter followers – and they have left behind a tattered justice system that will do nothing for the credibility of little Agnes Bluebottle, abused by a nobody, a nothing, a paltry ‘Uncle Fred’ that nobody has time to investigate – our wonderful Police are too busy holding inquiries into inquiries into inquiries to find out why you can’t get a conviction on a man when you haven’t got any credible evidence – something a first year law student could tell them the answer to.

Precisely.

Of course Bonny. "Victims must be believed" seems to be the current mantra.

Heaven help us.....

One thing that struck me - the prosecutor attempted to paint Roache's perfectly polite reply to some fanmail, decades ago, as 'grooming'.

Either that prosecutor has a mind like a sewer, or he is so wrapped up in sending 140-character messages or txts or shiny gadgets, he couldn't comprehend that folk used to write letters and thank people.