The Evans Affair
SIR,—Mr E. A. F. Fenwick (Letters, October 28) is worried about the effect Evans's free pardon may have on the jury system. At Evans's trial the chief prosecution witness was Christie who was put for- ward as a 'perfectly innocent man.' In those circum- stances the jury had practically no alternative but to convict. In fact as we now know Christie was a sexual strangler and if the jury had known the truth about him they plainly would not have con- victed Evans. Indeed he would not have been tried. Mr Fenwick seems to resent the Home Secretary doing what he did because he 'is not a lawyer.' But you don't have to be a lawyer to tell the difference between a perfectly innocent man and a multi- murderer. The Home Secretary has merely taken into account facts that were not known to the jury it the time. I do not see how this could conceivably have any 'ultimate consequence on the jury system.' IAN GILMOUR House of Commons, London SW!
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