Justice denied.

Yesterday Magistrate Paul Johnson expressed exasperation at the slowness of the legal system. The case before him involved a particularly brutal murder - and once again the prosecution was unable to proceed because of the unavailability of evidence.
He was told that DNA evidence collected from the crime scene was still awaiting analysis - and telephone intercepts allegedly proving guilt were awaiting transcribing.
What enraged the magistrate was the fact that the accused had been awaiting his day in court in a remand prison for the past twelve months - and the prosecution could give no clear answer as to when this case could proceed.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
Nobody should serve punishment before guilt is proved, and yet waiting in remand is in fact prison time amongst criminals. The law takes no account of the hardship that may be involved.
If the prisoner had a job before arrest - that job would now be long gone. Without an income items such as mortgage payments and credit card debts would go unpaid. It would not be unusual for a relationship to founder in such circumstances.
Eventually this case will go to trial when the prosecution finally gets it's evidence together - but if that evidence fails and the accused walks from the court a free man what damage has been done to him ?
At that point the legal system simply shrugs it's shoulders and walks away - whistling Dixie. The accused was not wrongly convicted. He simply suffered a delay before being brought to trial - and for that there is no compensation.
No wonder many consider the law a farce !