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I’m still trying to work out quite how I feel about the proposed legislation announced yesterday that means some juries may be informed of a person’s prior criminal record. I’ve never sat on Jury service, which will come as no shock to anyone who knows me – but if I were to do so, would I want to know about prior convictions?

To me the potential for this is to erode the concept of “reasonable doubt” – a jury is supposed to decide the merits of the case they’re trying, and come up with a verdict from that. However, if a case hasn’t been fully proven, where a jury would previously have opted for “not guilty”, if they know that someone has been accused and tried for a similar offence in the past, is there not a chance that they’ll then opt for “guilty” – “he’s done it before, the chances are he did it again“?

Blunkett said the measure would allow juries to have greater access to information about previous convictions and other types of misconduct “without unduly prejudicing the fairness of the trial”

“Trials should be a search for the truth and juries should be trusted with all the relevant evidence available to help them to reach proper and fair decisions,” said Mr Blunkett.

© Guardian Newspapers

I find this to be a troublesome concept – the jails we have are full to bursting, yet this initiative seems likely to find more people guilty, rather than less.

I think that when all’s said and done I would prefer to look at a case the way it’s done now, on the basis of the merits and evidence of that case, without having the information about what the accused has done before.

Lemon-scented

The gents toilet at work has (finally) had a new can of air-freshener put inside it. Being the sad git I am, I had a look at the warning label on the can.

“Caution : Do not inhale spray”

Um, it’s bloody air-freshener…

Email

It’s now officially one of those days. I’ve had two emails today regarding putting documents onto the intranet. On the first one they’d managed to not attach the “attached” document – not once, but twice. Which is impressive. The second one was rather more succinct.

“Can you please put the attached document on the intranet ASAP.”

That was it. Fair enough, the document’s attached on this occasion, but the intranet is over 2,000 pages, split between five major groups and then all the little fiefdoms under that. So God knows exactly where it’s supposed to go. But it’s definitely shaping up as one of those days. Roll on 5pm.

Nuptials

Ye Gods, last week was obviously the week of the blogwedding, what with Graybo getting hitched to Hels and also Stuart and Krissa doing a similar thing in the US.

All the best to both couples.

Gone Quiet

I’m not sure quite what’s happened today, but there seems to be very little going on. The roads were quiet this morning, and the office is virtually deserted. On a plus point, Stinky® is on a week off, which is a Good Thing and gives me some peace, and my sense of smell some recovery time.

But it’s definitely quiet, and there’s not a lot at the moment worthy of commentation. (if that’s a word – I suspect it’s not) And it looks like Gordon is suffering the same problem.

Defrosted

Of all the things that aren’t much fun to do on a Sunday, cleaning out a freezer comes high on the list. Particularly when it wasn’t planned at all. It looks like at some point this week I’d not closed the freezer door properly, so everything had defrosted to some degree, and the freezer resembled a small cross-section of the Polar regions.

As it is, I’ve opted for the safer choice, and simply chucked out everything. (Well, except for the vodka, but that doesn’t care about being defrosted) It’s a pain in the arse, but less of one than a dollop of food poisoning can be. And besides, it gave me a chance to clear out stuff and be done with it. But now it’s cleaned out, defrosted, and probably running a bit more efficiently. Just would’ve been nice to have to clean it out on my own timetable, rather than having it inflicted upon me. Ah well.

Scissor Sisters, Manchester Apollo

I’d had tickets to the previous Scissor Sisters gig in Manchester a couple of months ago, but missed it due to some work commitments – they don’t happen often, but when they do they have to be handled.

Anyway, when the next tour was announced, I picked up tickets again, and was determined to see them this time round. And wow, it was worth it. The camera did a bit better too, and came up with some stuff I’m really quite pleased with. The support act were decidedly odd – I think they were called “Fifi and Herm”, although it might have been “KiKi and Herm” – memory fails. Very odd bunch of New York cabaret-style cover versions (although the initial “Hit Me Baby One More Time” was deeply noteworthy, as was the ability to mix up “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”) were amusing, but not really successful as a warm-up to the main attraction. On the other hand, DJ Sammy Jo who provided the music in between acts was superb, and warmed people up far more than the support act had managed.

When the curtain went up for the Scissor Sisters, they’d managed to transform the stage into a type of glam ballroom, chandelier and all – and a light-show that wouldn’t have been out of place at a much larger venue. They kicked in and played everything off their album, as well as three new tracks which sounded like they’d fit right in, and hold a lot of promise for the second album when they get round to recording it. (I think that first of all they need to get some time where they’re not touring!) They even managed to make Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” sound good – quite an achievement in its own right.

Over all the entire gig was superb, full of energy, and with the passion and sound to go a long way further – I reckon the next venue they play in Manchester might well be headlining at the Evening News Arena. They’ve already played there as support for Duran Duran, and I can see them playing there several times before long on their own merit. Well worth catching any time they play in the vicinity.