Susan May Died

This morning as I was standing on Southwick Green waiting to cross the road, I had a text from Andrew to tell me that Susan May had died. Susan, for those who do not know was sent to prison for a crime she clearly didn't commit, and after her release she continued to protest her innocence and tried to get her original conviction overturned, but failed. The system does not like to admit when they have got something wrong, and they got it wrong in Susan's case. She was from Oldham and over the years, because of our cases and our similar circumstances we became great friends. The only reason Susan was ever convicted was because it was easy to convict her, the truth had nothing to do with it. In fact, the truth has little to do with any criminal case, all that matters is who tells the best and most convincing story in front of the jury. The police know this, the career criminals like myself know this, the legal profession knows this, the judiciary know this, even the fucking court house cat knows this. Will it ever change? No, is the simple answer, not while we have the current adversarial system. We need to lean more toward the inquisitorial system, much like that of the French where courts actively seek the truth and not just accept any old bollocks being put forward provided it is slightly believable. It was easy to convict Sue, she was an easy target. Come to that, it was easy to convict me because of the fact that I was a career criminal. I shall continue to protest my innocence as Sue did, bless her. But the sad fact is, Susan May died.