The ‘Ifield Five’ were found guilty last week, and will be sentenced next month.  It has dragged on for a long time now, with the original offence happening nearly a year ago.I did allude to it at the time, but in a very circumspect way. Having heard some of the details first-hand from witnesses, there was no way I wanted to say anything in public (even in such a low-circulation media as this blog) that could even possibly jeopardise the legal processes.  Now it is all over I think enough has been written about it already in the local papers.

A few thoughts though:

I think that both the local papers have been remarkably unsensational in their coverage.  That might sound wrong, given that it was splashed a bit last March, and has been on the front pages quite a bit, but if anything the details have been witheld or underplayed.  Imagine how the NotW would have treated it.

Talking of which, it is a bit of a surprise that the nationals haven’t picked up on it.  A pleasant surprise though.  I just hope it doesn’t mean this sort of thing is so common it doesn’t warrant a mention on the news!

Finally, there is one thing that worries me.  The News mentions in passing:

She also encouraged a 13-year-old to stamp on the victim’s head, something seen on the mobile phone video which was played in court.

What happened to that 13-year-old?   It seems strange he was not among the accused if there is video footage of him committing assault.  I think I would be reassured to know he was not still at large, whether he was a willing participant or was coerced – either way its a worry.