The law is an ass

Well, it is official. The law has completely lost it's sense of justice. Paul Clarke, an ex-soldier, has been convicted of possessing an illegal firearm - after picking up a discarded weapon and taking it to the Police station! When I first came across this story, I thought "oh, there must be more to it". But no, there isn't. He found a shotgun at the bottom of his garden (which backs on to a public park), took it to the police and handed it in. By touching the weapon, he was in possession of it, and as the offence is strict liability (ie, his intention does not matter, only his actions - so the fact he only possessed it to hand it in has no bearing on the case) he was convicted this week. The minimum sentence is five years imprisonment.

Believe it or not, as a rule I am strongly in favour of strict liability offences. But only when you can rely on the discretion of officers to identify dangers to society and act accordingly. For the love of all things, when you have Police handing out caution notices for assault and sexual assault, I would have thought the officer in question would have been smart enough to recognise that Clarke was not a risk to society and acted accordingly. Apparently I am wrong about that - and that is very concerning!

Police officers aren't thoughtless automatons. You often see officers using their discretion - especially with the young (the number of times one hears about drunk university students being given a warning or other summary punishment rather than spend a night in the cells). This discretion helps the justice system work fairly and justly. The police officer in question appears to have forgotten that, and his actions will make other less inclined to help the police serve and protect the people of Britain.