Did you used to believe that Colin Stagg was guilty? I did! Do you think he deserves the compensation?

Question

This case made me have a serious rethink about my attitude to certain crimes. I had always held the belief that Colin Stagg was guilty and got away with it on a technicality. Years later DNA advances proved it was Robert Napper. Basically Colin Stagg has had his life ruined beyond repair, I'm sure everywhere he went he encountered people like me that just assumed he was guilty. I think he deserves every penny he gets.

Answer 1

Of course he does!  Every penny of it.  Why are people comparing his payout to the payouts given to members of the Armed Forces.  You are forgetting one very important thing.  The members of the Armed Forces WERE DOING THEIR JOBS!  Colin Stagg was an innocent man who has suffered for the last 15 years, his only crime being that he was a bit 'different' Enjoy your money Colin you deserve it.

Answer 2

People assumed he was guilty because it was another trial by media, the same as Barry George.  The police wanted a quick result, they were under pressure from the public via the media and picked a local weirdo.

Yes they deserve every penny they get in compensation.

Will we learn from these two miscarriages of justice?  No probably not.  

Answer 3

Yes he does, he is unlucky to look and sound like a complete lunatic.

Not enough for the police to ' fit ' anyone up with a murder charge.

Answer 4

If you ever believed Colin Stagg was guilty, you didn't really understand the case. He did not get off on a technicality - the judge refused to let the case even be put when he saw the nature of the 'evidence' against Stagg. It was dismissed when the judge ruled that there was no case, because the prosecution had no evidence whatsoever.

He did not at any point confess to this murder, even when offered sexual favours from policewoman "Lizzie James" in exchange for a confession. He did admit to having killed an unnamed woman, but that was quickly found to have never happened.

This award is not excessive for a man cynically 'fitted up' by the police on no evidence other than he fitted the psychological profile.  

Answer 5

wen i heard it was over 700,000 it was quite a shock and i wasn't sure.. but then  i read the rest of the article and it states, that he had been trying and trying to get jobs and no one would give him a job because of what was going on.. so this is like to last him.. so i agree with you, deserved every penny :-)

Answer 6

Its one more sad indictment of the UK legal system. We are sending too many innocent people to prison.

Answer 7

well lets face it, he didnt help himself by confessing did he (yes yes, i know it was a 'honey trap') but what are we to think when someone does confess and then takes it back.

re the compo - well i agree that he should have a large amount of compensation for the mistakes of the police, but other people's compo for other situations where they are victim of crime (such as Racheal Nickell's son) should have much more. Rape victims only get 11k and that gets cut if they are found to have been drinking or taking drugs. Was Colin's compo cut because he confessed and was found to have affected the investigation that way??? did he make himself vulnerable by making up that he killed her??

these are all ethical questions that need re thinking. but the bottom line is that all victims of crime need much more money for the life long effects of the crime.

Answer 8

The reports i heard and read stated he was part of something called a honeypot police trap, i do not think such practises are correct, having said that i do not think Stagg is totally innocent, the police are not complete fools, however i do think he deserves some small amount of compensation for being lured into a trap.

Answer 9

It seems that the media and subsequently the public and the courts can convict someone on the grounds "they are a bit weird"

Answer 10

The whole case seemed a little bit "waggy" from the start to me. Everything seemed to fit together very tightly. When a case seems so open and shut there is always a doubt. The police did a passable job of fitting him up,thankfully not good enough ! This man deserves for more compensation than he actually got  !"

Answer 11

He should be given a fair amount to cover lost wages and any costs incurred by the trial. He should also be awarded an amount to get him back on his feet, let's say the same amount they give a soldier returning from serving his country abroad. He should not be made a lottery winner nor should it enrich some freaking lawyer. He can get rich selling his story to the media that ruined his name. It is saddening that too many people think their only way to riches is by suing someone and it only propagates treachery and sloth by awarding such large sums.  

Answer 12

Thats why its always good to believe in "Innocent until PROVED guilty".