The difference between England and Ireland

[fiat_knox]

In Ireland, if someone is arrested on any charge, while the trial is still being heard the defendant is known as "the alleged [defendant of whatever the charge is]."

Here in the UK, not only do they harp on about the man upon his arrest, but they go into his life at length, scraping every barrel to secure a conviction on TV before he even gets a sniff of the interior of a court.

He's been found guilty by the TV and rag meejah before they even tell their audience at the bottom of the page, or in the last ten seconds of the segment, that "the defendant is still being questioned, and has not even been charged yet."

Comments

[lemuria.livejournal.com]

Yes, because dying your hair and wearing (gasp!) polo-neck jumpers are sure signs of being a murderer. (I'm assuming this is the particular case which has prompted your post, although this sort of reporting is sadly common in the so-called 'quality' media as well as the tabloids now.)