That's all folks
How to make something out of nothing
AND that’s the sum total of the evidence against Geoff - a panicked lie and a series of unrecorded phone calls. There weren’t even any calls on the days leading up to February 27th. Nothing. But the terrible paradox is that defending a case with little evidence can be difficult. Kevin Christian, whose brother Derek is serving a life sentence for a murder he denies committing, is a member of the pressure group Innocent. He told BBC News Online: “Many miscarriages result, ironically, from weak prosecution cases. Where there is very little in the way of a prosecution case to dismantle, it is very difficult to mount a cogent defence case.”
This, coupled with the widely held notion that there is “no smoke without fire” is what did for Geoff. It is not hard to imagine the jury’s thinking. The police have got 77kg of cocaine in a lorry – someone must have done it. One bloke has already admitted his part, the police say they saw a second bloke unloading it from the lorry so why not Geoff too? After all, they wouldn’t have charged him if they didn’t think he did it, and the police don’t get things wrong do they? Of course they do. With so little evidence, the trial became a classic case of presentation and spin – of who do you believe? In the end, the jury made a mistake and believed the CPS. Geoff made a mistake when he panicked and lied to the police in interview. He made a mistake when he declined to have a solicitor. We all make mistakes, but we’re not all criminals – and neither is Geoff Hyde.