BLOG 260 - Absolutely sure

“We believe the words heard were  the informal meaning of "shoot him, Chris" we do not believe he was communicating the literal meaning  "give him the gun, Chris". Jury foreman

Two kids on a roof top. They are have broken the law in some way. They are being persued by an unarmed policeman. The younger of the kids has a gun. They are cornered. The policeman requests the weapon is surrendered. The elder kid shouts to the younger “Let him have it Chris”. The younger one shoots. The policeman dies.

The elder one states he was telling the younger one to hand over the weapon.

The kids are charged. The younger one is under age. The elder one is not.

The courts believe the prosecution that elder one was giving instructions to kill the policeman.

The elder one is executed within one month of conviction.

45-years later the elder one was given a posthumous pardon, which was granted partially in 1993, then completely in 1998. Because quite frankly... the meaning of what was overheard was incorrect.

This case has never been forgotten in Britain. Nor should it.

We do love to think we know what people mean when we think we hear what they say.

And sometimes as a consequence of us being so damn sure we know the contents of another person’s mind…. Someone dies.

We don’t always hear what we think we hear.

Remember that the next time you THINK you've heard something.

Remember that the next time you say that you know EXACTLY what was going on.

Because if you have got it wrong…..

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