I was very impressed by the interview which Razi Shah, the solicitor for Munir Hussain, gave to Radio 5 yesterday, following the decision of his client’s appeal which had been fast tracked & presided over by the Lord Chief Justice himself.
Dignified, even charming, in making his case, without aggression, without criticism of the jury’s verdict, showing keen awareness of the legal & social issues involved, he very skilfully got in the important point that this incident was over in less than 5 minutes – I had certainly been left with the impression from earlier press reports of the original trial that Munir Hussain & his brother had had much longer to plot to chase the burglar - & gracefully thanked the Lord Chief Justice for exercising mercy.
There was just one point which gave me pause – when he said that his client had feared for the honour of his wife & daughter – a sensitive topic these days. But then I remembered that one question which used to be put to those claiming the status of Conscientious Objector was ‘Would you attack/kill a man who was raping your wife/sister/daughter?’ – not culturally different at all.
I could not understand the original sentence, even granted that I did not hear all the evidence at the trial, & am not disputing the jury’s verdict. What purpose could it serve to send such a generally law-abiding man to jail for such a long time?
It appears from this interview that the trial judge was following sentencing guidelines, which the Lord Chief Justice has now said must be tempered in exceptional circumstances.
