Rougharse-Racing wrote:
My point was that any post that assumed guilt of an un-convicted man, as some did by suggesting an appropriate penalty was quite probably in contempt of court when made during the trial.
Despite being called “The Bar” I can assure you that this forum is hosted on the World Wide Web, can be accessed by all and is not a chat between mates in the pub.
My concern was that if comment on this topic was encouraged during the trial then there was a likelihood of more blatant or contentious comments being posted.
I was disappointed by the attitude one in particular who despite being tasked with moderating this forum appeared to be reckless as to the potential consequence of their own and others’ comments or the potential damage to the reputation of the TRF and trail riding had the comments got out of hand.
If the roles were reversed for example the prosecution of TRF members and had the posts been on the NFU site then I’m sure that many on this forum would have thought the comments unjust.
As you are referring to me I will answer.
My comments were my opinion, I do not represent any body, club, association or fellowship - just me. I was not part of the case nor was I present at court. It is in fact the legal responsibilty of the members of the jury to not read any "opinion" printed in the press or stated online during the trial, it is NOT "contempt of court" for a private individual to state his or her opinion about a case on a discussion forum, just as it is not contempt of court to state an opinion in a pub.
As for being "tasked with moderating this forum", yes, you're right I am tasked with that and I spend not inconsiderable amounts of my personal time removing spam, porn and other sh1t from the site. I am not purporting to speak for the TRF, my wife, village, dog, family or even you, so get a bloody grip and stop peddling ill-informed psuedo-legal clap trap. If you have an issue with me fulfilling the voluntary role as moderator on this site then pay your subs, join the TRF and complain about me; in the meantime wind your bloody neck in.
Just so you have no doubts; as far as I'm concerned they should have thrown the key away.