Mr. Mach2number,
Thank you for your understanding.
Mr. AnglianAV8R,
The pin badge you have is that of the RUC DPOA (Disabled Police Officers Association). It has since been renamed DPOA NI, to incorporate PSNI victims. It still remains the one association who never hope to join....
Thank you for your support for this organisation, it means a lot.
Mr Geriaviator,
Seems we're singing from the same hymn sheet. Of course, the latest "Hot Potato" concerns Inquests, the main beneficiaries of which will be....... need I say more?
Mr Out-of-trim,
As stated by Mr. Geriaviator, jurors are chosen from random from the electoral list. A reasonably sized pool will be summoned to appear at a Crown Court on a specific date, from which 12 will be selected for each case. They have no idea which case they will be allocated to before attending and being selected for that case.
Both the prosecution and the defence can object to any juror, it is up to the Judge to approve this objection. So in a very real sense, the make up of the jury is agreed by the defence and the prosecution together.
The main problem with juries in N.I. are people not answering their summons to attend court, preferring to pay the £1000 fine for non-attendance. This in itself helps to ensure that the jurors who do actually attend are the law-abiding and upright members of society - in theory anyway.
A closing point I would like to make concerns the PSNI. There is still an ongoing terrorist campaign in N.I., you folks in G.B. may never hear of it on the news; it may not make the news over here (there are valid reasons for this) The PSNI, along with a couple of other "agencies", have done some truly exception work in saving lives. Unfortunately, sooner of later, some one, somewhere, will run out of luck or skill and become another terrorist victim.
They, like Police officers in 'contested' areas everywhere, have to experience horrors on a daily basis, so you don't have to.
In my view, there is no PSNI "witchhunt" against the military. The PSNI is the most heavily scrutinised Police service in the world, being answerable to our local Policing Board, as well as other statutory bodies such as HMIC and PONI, and any number of civil & human rights groups, any or all of which will cry "Foul!" at the slightest sign of a "witchhunt."
It is a statement of fact that the work of HET was criticised by some of the above groups for being too lenient on former military personnel.......
Anyway, I wish a Merry Christmas to all, and hope that your 2017 will be peaceful and prosperous.