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Soham Murder trial

432 replies

codswallop · 05/11/2003 12:04

I am sure this must be indescribably Painful for the parents , But I was thinking in bed - what if I had been selected for that Jury service....

I am soooooo emotional and i reckon that this would seriously affect me for the rest of my life (not saying it wouldnt for others natch).

I know you cant get out of Jury Service But God - how would you cope?

OP posts:
LIZS · 17/12/2003 11:50

I guess it depends upon which count he is directing it on but I'm sure a unanimous verdict would be ideal - maybe they have agreed on the murder/manslaughter and it is the conspiracy ones where a majority would be more acceptable ? I suppose it is a judgenment call as to whether the cost and publicity of a potential retrial would be justified.

SnowyZebra · 17/12/2003 11:50

Jury coming back into court in a minute...

Northerner · 17/12/2003 11:51

Will there be a verdict today?

SnowyZebra · 17/12/2003 11:59

IH is guilty of both girls... 11:1 on both. MC not guilty of assisting an offender on either. MC guilty on conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

jinglesaur · 17/12/2003 12:00

So someone actually thought he was not guilty!!!

The mind boggles....

SnowyZebra · 17/12/2003 12:03

IH's Past: was investigated for various allegations of having sex with or assaulting under-age girls... 11, 13-14 yo. Also something to do with a burglary charge. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Just makes me want to cry.

bundle · 17/12/2003 12:08

jinglesaur, not necessarily, it just has to be beyond reasonable doubt.

TheGrinch · 17/12/2003 12:09

Maybe not "not guilty" - just not sure enough to say guilty.

So he does have form. How did he get that job then. Heads will roll.

jinglesaur · 17/12/2003 12:10

...even so...

If someone felt his guilt was not beyond reasonable doubt, presumably that means they would have had to find his evidence plausible...

GladTidings · 17/12/2003 12:10

Thank goodness for that! Justice has been done. I assume he will be given life for each murder?

FWIW - I agree that MC did truly believe IH was being fitted up for the crime.

bundle · 17/12/2003 12:12

i agree jinglesaur, it's hard to take in

hollybet · 17/12/2003 12:12

Wonder why it took so long when the judge would have accepted 10 - 2?

SnowyZebra · 17/12/2003 12:14

Judge only told them an hour ok that a majority verdict would be ok, after all. Huntley had an alias that he was charged/investigated for on the burglary/sexual assault charges, and Humberside didn't keep track of the multiple names well, at all. The BBC is painting a portrait of a serial liar/psychopath... shudder.

jinglesaur · 17/12/2003 12:24

...so it can't be a coincidence that he sought out a job as a school caretaker, can it? presumably that was a deliberate ploy to get in contact with young children...shudder...what an evil man...

SnowyZebra · 17/12/2003 12:31

3.5 yrs for MC, but she's served a lot of that time, already, so hasn't long more to do. 2x Life for IH. Creep, creep, creep.

GladTidings · 17/12/2003 12:43

Acutally I think 3.5yrs is a bit steep considering some rapists only get 4!! I don't think she is a danger to society. Her life isruined because she hopelessly loved that psycho.

She must have a good 2.5 yrs to serve?

WiShuaMerryXmas · 17/12/2003 12:57

In my eyes I think it's more a case of the rape sentance being less than it should be rather than MC's being longer.

SnowyZebra · 17/12/2003 13:00

They said theoretically MC could have got life, so she got off relatively lightly. I think she has served about 15 months already.

tamum · 17/12/2003 13:03

Have been keeping out of this because I knew he had form but couldn't trust myself to keep quiet, especially when people were defending MC. I find it hard to believe that she had no idea at all about his past, which casts grave doubt on her protestations of innocence and just doing it because she loved him, IMO.

GladTidings · 17/12/2003 13:05

How could she get life for perverting the course of justice? I don't see why since it would be the tax payers money paying to keep her behind bars when there really isn't any need to. I think that if it came to the crunch and I really beleived DH hadn't done anything wrong then I would give him an alibi in a second! It doesn't make me a danger to society. I think it is just the nature if HIS crime that makes us want to punish MC.

Good point - WSM

GreenSanta · 17/12/2003 13:10

Message withdrawn

LIZS · 17/12/2003 13:11

The whole business just gives me the chills. I suppose it depends on how long ago the other alleged incidents took place as to whether she really had grounds to be more suspicious than previously claimed. It does throw the whole system of police checks into disarray if a simple name change could avoid detection. Could n't MC be out within 18 months with good behaviour ?

Poor families now having to come to terms with all this.

GladTidings · 17/12/2003 13:13

How exactly would a ten yr old drown in a bath without being held under or being unconscious when she fell in?
Purely on the evidence he still stood back and actively STOPPED any attempt to save her. His acts after that were hugely premeditated.... going purely on the facts.

Purrlease!

bundle · 17/12/2003 13:14

greensanta, I think if you don't believe him re: the suffocation, then it's fair to say you might choose to not believe his account of the 'accidental' drowning, ie an able, fit girl who slippedinto a bath like that would have to be restrained for her to not survive. or if she'd banged her head and lost consciousness, his deliberate inaction could be construed as causing her death, ie it wasn't a spur of the moment thing.

bundle · 17/12/2003 13:15

(sorry cross-posted with gladtidings..)

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