Tornado GO4, with a Rolls Royce engine. Image: SAC Scott Ferguson.
As a former detective, I have sat through many criminal hearings. No matter how challenging the investigation, or how complex the trial, the judge’s explanation of why the crime is so heinous is often a stirring moment. It reminds the investigators, the jury, the public and the defendant why they are there and provides a moment of pause to consider the crime’s impact. Moreover, it is the time to recognise the victims, and for society to acknowledge the wrongs that have been suffered.
But after three hours of legal argument the victim’s voice was almost entirely absent in Rolls-Royce’s hearing. Sir Brian’s 32 page judgement contained only a brief assertion that because there had been no inflation of the prices of the corruptly purchased equipment, no-one had really lost out. Perversely, the hearing focused almost entirely on the effects on the company and its dependents. It is a peculiarity of a DPA hearing that the prosecution counsel sets out the case against a prosecution. The unintended consequence was a prosecution counsel making the case for leniency so strongly it left the defence counsel with almost nothing to say; and everyone forgot the victims.
