The thread
I think there's much to be said for TR's view that the Major and Celador should have resolved their dispute at their own expense in the civil courts, not at the taxpayers expense.
And I'm with the sceptics regarding the television programme. If I hadn't formed a view already, the highly edited selection of recordings and 'I knew all along' types on the programme wouldn't have persuaded me. If it was all as obvious as they made out, it's curious that the jury took so long to reach their verdicts (which were by majority, not unanimous) and that Chris Tarrant who was sitting only a metre from the Major and facing the FFF contestants didn't notice anything amiss.
Jacko's sidethread
There were three burglars at Mr Martin's house. They'd travelled all the way from the Midlands to his remote farmhouse in Norfolk. He was known to live alone and his house was a target for burglars because his eccentric lifestyle had given rise to rumours that he was very wealthy and the house was full of valuables antiques. It wasn't - anything of any value had been taken by previous burglars.
All three burglars had previous convictions for violence. Burglars who break into occupied houses at night are prepared to use violence against their victims if necessary. Their first choice may be to run away if disturbed but burglars who are not prepared to use violence to escape don't generally break into houses at night when they're likelty to be occupied.
We'll never know what these burglars would have done to an elderly man alone in an isolated farmhouse if he hadn't had a gun - but we do know what sometimes happens to elderly people when they disturb burglars in their homes.
Jacko
Barras didn't have
"a string of arrests and court appearances behind him"; he had a string of convictions behind him which included burglaries and offences of violence.
"All for petty offences. He was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a violent criminal." I suppose it depends on whether you regard burgling people's houses and using violence as petty offences. I don't. I won't repeat my comments about night-time burglars and violence.
Where do you get this emotional
'innocent child sobbing and begging for his life' from? I don't remember this being alleged during the trial.
