Over the years there have been many miscarriages of justice. I guess that because we don’t execute people then it is always possible to release a person who has been wrongly convicted. Recently the body of a young woman killed in 1979 was exhumed after the convicted killer was released when DNA evidence not available at the time showed he wasn’t the killer. 27 years in prison for something you didn’t do is a long time, and Simon Hodgson is not alone in serving years in prison in this way. The Charles Smith blog gives a whole list of British Miscarriages of justice, and generally in the lack of serious evidence it is when an individual continues to deny guilt and therefore show remorse that they are less likely to be released guilty or innocent.

This is one of the things that on the face of things makes the release of the Lockerbie Plane bomber all the more amazing. He may claim to be innocent, but he is guilty in the eyes of the law. No DNA or other evidence has been presented and he denies guilt. Of course if you are the potential martyr of a whole state, formally known to be at the forefront of terrorism and if major politicians have been involved in your case then you have a better chance than most. Once again our politicians have managed to do the wrong thing and to trip themselves up over their words. I don’t blame the American relatives for being angry and I wouldn’t blame the families of much  more blatant miscarriages of justice for being angry either.