Scott Watson, is this the big falling down?
As many readers will be aware, there appears to be a substantial change regarding the "key" evidence in the Watson case - the 2 hairs found in the lab and said to be from the blanket discovered on Scott's boat. The various problems with the magic hairs continue.
I say magic because they were invisible when Scott's boat Blade was searched, they were also invisible when hairs were taken 1 by 1 from a blanket taken off the Blade in the Lab. Only to become visible after there was a second visit to the Hope household when more hairs were recovered. How convenient for the Crown. Apparently, lost hairs are showing up again, but they don't test as having come from Ben or Olivia. A "new" Scientist has appeared in the lab working during the time of the critical hair examinations but not taking notes.
And also, how inconvenient for the Crown the arrival of the Blade at Eerie Bay on New Year's Day shifted from late morning to early evening, after the father and marijuana grower suddenly recovered his memory and noted that he recalled the arrival time because of a horse race run late in the day. What was not convenient however, was the statement of a young person that police left in the file who saw the Blade from another vessel when passing Eerie Bay in the morning.
We can also now consider the evidence of the mystery ketch being seen late in the afternoon on New Years Eve, and of the photo file being cleansed and evidence of the mystery ketch disappearing. And the list goes on and on, until there is nothing left pointing at Scott ever meeting the couple or of they meeting him. The conversants around the pool table now disprove the claim that Scott was even playing pool and inviting young women to take a trip on his ketch to Tonga. We know the name of that man now and the name of his boat, which was indeed a ketch.
The singing prison "stoolies" sing no more, we find out ex-Detective Fitzgerald "forgot" to charge one of them for a serious assault. There are witnesses to show Ben and Olivia were seen alive at Mapua Wharf when they were said to be dead, and witnesses that saw the ketch there with the young couple aboard. We've heard from a ex-soldier being offered to be let out of prison if he gave evidence against Scott. In short, the case is an unholy mess and that has been known for some years but still has not fully reached the Court because of rules around "new" evidence and appeals that penalise the innocent for decades as we have seen in recent time, with Alan Hall and Gail Maney and those falsely charged with her.
It's time to swap the magic for the truth, and treat potential Miscarriages of Justice as emergencies, and not fart about for years with a system that punishes the innocent.
