No Smoke: The Shocking Truth About British Justice

by Sandra Lean

A life-long fascination with the workings of the human mind, and especially the workings of the "criminal mind," led Sandra Lean, at the age of 32, through the doors of Napier University in Edinburgh. A single parent of two young children, she studied Psychology and Sociology to Honours Degree level. A Masters' Degree in Forensic Psychology seemed like the most obvious next step, until a local, high-profile murder hit the headlines. Behind the scenes, Sandra Lean began sifting through the facts, only to discover that all was not as it seemed. What she found led her to other, similar cases, and more patient, methodical sifting, in an investigation that was to last almost four years. The result was a shocking, but true, discovery. Innocent people are being locked up in our prisons, convicted of the most horrific crimes, on a regular basis. These are not one-off, tragic mistakes, but rather, a routine, everyday occurrence. For every high-profile miscarriage of justice that we hear about, there are dozens more that never make the news. No Smoke examines just some of these cases, highlighting the very human tragedy of wrongful conviction, and pointing out the unthinkable: this could happen to any one of us.

Genres: True Crime

255 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[L. Penn · Rating 3 out of 5]

For all the correct convictions our justice department prosecutes, there are a shocking number of glaringly evidence-driven wrong ones. This book delivers many red flag convictions from recent years. We would all like to believe the police, magistrates, et al, to get it right when we hear an accused is convicted but this one book alone is truly disturbing in its accounts from many trials that will leave anyone clearly of the understanding that that conviction was simply wrong.
Chapter One; The British Justice System, is a mouthful, but once the basics are laid bare, you will have an understanding of the unfolding in how The System can go drastically wrong. Ouch!
I still believe British Justice is the best in the world and yet a detailed piece like this, brilliantly stated by Sandra Lean, will leave any right-minded individual at times, beside themselves.