On pain of death
by Nick Petrie on November 23, 2007
WHAT is the purpose of our criminal justice system? To protect the innocent? To deliver justice? To punish the guilty? have always believed in the principle ‘it is better to let ten guilty men go free, than let one innocent man go to jail.’ It is not a perfect system by any means; it never can be. We wield judgment and justice over each other in a society we created. It is a perfect concept in an imperfect world.
28 days later
by Nick Petrie on November 16, 2007
IT has been over two years now since the 7/7 bombings in London and the Government has decided it is time for a review of our terror legislation. It was the 7/7 bombings that prompted the initial review two years ago, when the Government were pushing to be able to hold terror suspects for up to 90 days without charge (from the 14 days it was at the time). The announcement by Gordon Brown in the Queenís speech, to review the legislation, coincides with the rulings from the Jean Charles de Menezes case. Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead in Stockwell tube station in July 2005 following police operations in the wake of the 7/7 bombings.
Drug companies bribe doctors with cars: all part of the fight against cancer
by Nick Petrie on November 9, 2007
CANCER. It is a hell of a word. It means many different things to many different people. Having suffered from Non-Hodgkinís T-Lymphoma when I was nine years old, it means many things to me. Number one of those is survival.
Yet, too often, this is not the case. Despite new headlines claiming the ‘ultimate cancer cure’ is just day’s away, people are dying every day.
Sweet Charity
by Nick Petrie on November 2, 2007
WHEN walking down Oxford Street in London or heading into the Bullring in Birmingham, there is a fair chance you will be stopped by a ‘chugger’ – someone asking you to give money to some charity or other. They often open with a question; ‘Have you heard about the recent earthquake in Kashmir?’ Fifteen minutes later, you have agreed to fork over ten pounds a month, a kidney and your first- born.