A feature of the UK’s post office horizon computer scandal is the number of sub-postmasters whom, on their lawyer’s advice, pleaded guilty to fraud that they didn’t commit. We know now that the fault lies entirely within the Computer System within which those postmasters were instructed to work, which generated shortfalls on their account, for which those postmasters were unfairly blamed and in many cases prosecuted and convicted. Even if you are innocent, as we know that those postmasters were, how can you defend yourself against false accusations when even your own lawyer insists that you should plead guilty?
Of course, if you are a defense lawyer, it makes your own life a lot easier if you have a client who pleads guilty. It means that you don’t have to agonise over what questions to ask a prosecution witness. Instead, you simply accept what the prosecution says. There is no reputational risk for yourself, because your innocent client has already thrown in the towel. So it’s now just about making a 20-minute plea in mitigation to try to keep your client out of prison.
But even if your now ‘guilty’ client escapes a prison sentence, they are still going to have a criminal conviction hanging over them. That itself is a life sentence because it is always going to come up whenever you apply for a job. Forget the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. That doesn’t even apply if a prospective employer carries out an enhanced check with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which will even throw up a police caution, no matter how long ago.
If I was up on a false charge, I would want a lawyer who will fight tooth and nail to clear my name. Not someone who shakes their head and tells me to plead to something I didn’t do. I can do that for myself. If you don’t have the stomach to fight my case, then please refer me to someone who will. Yes-I know that if I plead not guilty and get convicted by a jury, I will get a more severe sentence. But my good name is more important to me. Whatever happens, I would never regret my not-guilty plea.
BRUCE AND HOLLY 