Marion Millar on trial today

[ArabellaScott]

Solidarity to Marion and all the witches out to support her.

So what about all those other zillions of tweets that another poster has confidently claimed were part of the prosecution?

Oh indeed. And not just here, but I've seen that suggested elsewhere.

If the initial questioning was really just over the ribbon tweet, they must have known they were on very thin ground indeed. It seems insane, to put it politely, that they then decided they would add her tweets about being questioned to the charge sheet. Surely they must know themselves that this is nuts. I can't believe that someone decided to go ahead and prosecute on that basis.

@LolaLouLou If it is the case as you say - f you were charged with something (charge 1) and then went onto social media and tweeted anything about it, anything at all, it could be classed as contempt of court or potentially prejudicing a future court case.

That was then. This is now.

No statutory definition of 'alarm,' but guidance says it is "a frightened anticipation of danger."

bit.ly/3t2v7hA

Looks like all the comments have gone from under that Herald Article not just the O'Keefe one.

it says she was charged under the Malicious Communications Act

There is no longer a Malicious Communications Act - it was superseded by the Communications Act 2003.

What a disgusting waste of money this is.
And bizarre harassment.
Paisley better not be moving to sw London urgh.

....so PC Plod now lives in fear of ....something or other?

The policewoman piling in on the act is really fucking scary. I read Marion's twitter looking for any dirt they might be able to use and found nothing. (my brain was not fertile enough to conjur up a noose from some haberdashery).

But for the police to double down and add to the charges is insane. (unless Marion said something like she was a hairy lesbian dyke face, which given the company she usually keep I suspect would be v unlikely).

twitter.com/anyabike/status/1432627037055893507

The police do not charge. They used to, in England and Wales, but not since 1986. In Scotland, charges have always been a matter for the Procurator Fiscal, who is supposed to be rigourously sceptical of whatever the police put in front of them.

@Jaysmith71

The Letter of the Law:

38Threatening or abusive behaviour
(1)A person (“A”) commits an offence if—
(a)A behaves in a threatening or abusive manner,
(b)the behaviour would be likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm, and
(c)A intends by the behaviour to cause fear or alarm or is reckless as to whether the behaviour would cause fear or alarm.

www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/13/section/38

The magic word there is "and," which means the prosecution must prove a, b, and c, beyond reasonable doubt, to secure a conviction.

Their gona struggle with b) surely? unless they pack the jury with gender loons.

Does DP have friends or family in the police? I'm just wondering how he gets them to take action with something like this, when rapes and assaults arent prosecuted and if you are robbed the most you get is a crime number.

Police Scotland are Stonewall members. The PO who interviewed Marion was a published case study for Scottish LGBTI Police Association (as far as I remember)

Fans of "Shetland" will recall the PF in that repeatedly telling D.I. Jimmy Perez to go away and come back with something that will stick.

Fiction, sadly.

Their gona struggle with b) surely? unless they pack the jury with gender loons

I would have thought they would struggle will all three TBH. Feeling much more optimistic now.

@ItsAllGoingToBeFine

The Police officer one is really baffling me. I genuinely didn't realise it was illegal to tell people which police officer had spoken to you.

Or that it was a seriously chargeable offence in the first instance... No warning, no nothing...

I read on Craig Murry site the case of an elderly resident of one of the scotish isles who reported the family of an SMP to the police for going to their holiday home for lockdown (totally against the law) and the police showed up and... wait for it...arrested the old guy, for harrassing the politician.
Scary stuff indeed.
A politics friend explained to me that there is something in the scotish gov set up that has not seperated the courts/justice system sufficiently from parliment, so it can be used inappripriatly by the state. Sorry I should have paid more attention to what he was saying.

politics friend explained to me that there is something in the scotish gov set up that has not seperated the courts/justice system sufficiently from parliment, so it can be used inappripriatly by the state.

It's the Lord Advocate. They are head of prosecution s in Scotland and they are lead legal advisor to the government. Appointed by the queen on advice of FM.

As an aside, there won’t be a jury. It will be heard by a sheriff sitting alone.

@ItsAllGoingToBeFine

And am still that Marion only found out this is what the charges were in court today.

You aren't the only one. I read it online and was quite taken aback by that. How can you prepare for a case without knowing what you are charged with?

I thought you are told what you are charged with on arrest.

@WouldBeGood

As an aside, there won’t be a jury. It will be heard by a sheriff sitting alone.

Do you know why that is?

I thought you are told what you are charged with on arrest.

I'm struggling to imagine how the police interview went, tbh, if they wouldn't tell her what she was supposed to have done wrong

I don't know what can be mentioned at the moment. I presume if they chuck it out on the 4th October, the basis, sequence of events, and intent of subsequent add on charges can be taken apart from pillar to post.

Wonder if MM (or someone else) could then take a case to stop them persecuting and discriminating against women at the behest and on the whim of this ideology. Don't forget that objective fact is still mainstream view and has not been wholly abandoned.

@yourhairiswinterfire

I thought you are told what you are charged with on arrest.

I'm struggling to imagine how the police interview went, tbh, if they wouldn't tell her what she was supposed to have done wrong

Oh that didn't even cross my mind!

Jury trials are only for very serious crimes in Scotland @Cailleach1