Going in search of 'the right kind of justice'

UP until very recently I had never heard the phrase “People’s Court” I rather hope I never come across it again, but I fear I will.

- 

I came across it after reading a series of Tweets by those who should know better, namely Chris Philp, former crime and policing minister and now shadow Home Secretary, and Kemi Badenoch, former Levelling Up minister, now leader of the Opposition.

Kemi suggested Lucy Connolly - who urged rioting people to bum down hotels housing refugees and them along with it - suffered a harsh sentence. Fact-check - Connolly pleaded guilty to ‘publishing threatening or abusive material intending to stir up racial hatred’ For those unsure as to what is considered to stir it up, then “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care... if that makes me racist so be it” is now considered stirring material.

What irked Conservative Kemi and Conservative Chris and many others was that Labour councillor Ricky Jones, despite being caught on camera at a rally and suggesting racist protesters had their throats slit, and despite the police arresting him and the CPS charging him, and him going to trial because he pleaded not guilty... well, the irksome bit was not that.

It was that the jury of 12 randomly chosen member of the public listened to all the evidence presented by the prosecution and defence and decided that they could not be sure beyond reasonable doubt that he was encouraging violent disorder. So they found him not guilty. And that’s when it hit the fan.