Miscarriage of Justice

As this post of mine highlights Scotland's rape laws are among the most restrictive in the world. From 922 allegations of rape made to police only 27 resulted in conviction during 2006/2007 and there is a review of the way rapes are prosecuted to improve conviction rates and the treatment of victims underway.

However, the quashing of Sean Hodgson's sentence in London earlier this week is a reminder that less restrictive laws may lead to miscarriages of justice. Convicted of rape and murder Sean Hodgson served 27 years after confessing to the crimes. New DNA evidence showed that he could not have been the murderer and his lawyers argued that he was a pathological liar and that the confessions were false.

Full story Source The Telegraph 18 March 2009