Sun, 08 Oct 2006

Is the UK a police state? - Sentenced after proven innocent

Spy Blog spotted the Times article about Raouf Abdullah Mohammed. He's been acquitted by a jury with four non-guilty verdicts only to be sentenced to a control order at the request of the Home Office (who initially tried to deport him).

This Government not content with passing so many Home Office bills curtailing our civil liberties, is now entirely bypassing the legal system by ignoring the verdict returned by a jury.

Who would have thought this possible in England?

Update:In a comment on Spy Blog, sam_m mentions that this is not the first time the UK Government sentences persons acquitted by the legal system.
For instance: In 1993, John Matthews was arrested and detained for 10 weeks by the Police in connection with an IRA bombing. When the case came before a Magistrate's Court the prosecution offered no evidence and he was told by the Magistrate that he left the Court without a stain on his character.
As he literally left the Court, on the steps, he was served with an "Exclusion Order" and immediately removed to N.Ireland.
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