Usually you'd take hearsay reported from a pub with a grain of salt. But nothing with the Thomas case and the police can be taken with a grain of salt, that time is long since past. Too much now adds together to show that Thomas was not only framed but that the current police administration have simply taken up the cudgels of their predecessors in try to 'beat down' what is the country's most infamous framing of an innocent man.
No need to look far for corroboration of the claims by Queenie Edmonds made in the above article because they tie exactly with the shell planted by the late Hutton, the comments of the current Deputy Commissioner, Mike Bush, who when speaking at Bruce Hutton's funeral claimed that Huttons career had been one of distinction, this despite Hutton being named as the person who planted a shell case that largely resulted in Arthur spending around a decade for a crime he didn't commit, while at the same time his late ex wife Vivian Harrison going to her grave without an apology or compensation for the false assertion that she had fed baby Rochelle after Arthur had killed the baby's parents.
After 30 years and a Royal Commission the police hierarchy are still in denial about the false imprisonment of Arthur and applauding the career of the man who destroyed his life is it any wonder to expect that there are not scores of stories that will continue to emerge about the conduct of the police in the Thomas case. The answer is no, particularly so because an ex member of the force Ross Meurant spelt out in detail the machinations of the 'Hutton crew,' while the public at large appreciate that the planted shell case use to convict Thomas hadn't even been made at the time of the murders.
Commissioner Peter Marshall has a cupboard bursting with Miscarriages of Justice - Thomas, Bain, Watson, Poara and Hall being the most prominent - all unsafe murder convictions, two with planted evidence and all 5 with evidence that was either with held or shouldn't have been admitted. Where does he start? By shutting the cupboard it seems and trying to shore up the cracks. That is increasingly clearly seen as his position, it is that position on which not only in the passage of time that he will be judged, but so too a police force emerging, or looking to be emerging into a modern era. By dishonouring justice Peter Marshall dishonours the police and the public of New Zealand.
No comments:
Post a Comment