THOSE of us that have had any experience of dealing with the English Criminal law will have quickly become aware that one of the principles enshrined in it for serious offences is that it has to be shown that the accused had a deliberate intention to carry out the offence, well aware of what the consequences might be. What is known as ?Guilty Knowledge?. In order to show this there must be evidence that the accused acted in such a way that they were well aware that what they were doing was wrong. Take driving offences. If the accused drove at 70mph through a built-up area, overtaking recklessly and as a result caused a death then clearly they were acting in such a way that they must have known they could well cause a very serious accident. They deserve to be prosecuted with the possibility of a custodial sentence not because of the results of their actions but because what they were doing was clearly dangerous with a real possibility of serious injury or even death. There is not an experienced driver on the road who can honestly claim that at some time (however momentarily) they have not driven without due care and attention. With proposed changes in the law such a driver could be prosecuted and receive a custodial sentence of five years. What of ambulance, fire service and police drivers who we call upon to drive at great speed and to make snap judgements in order to save the lives of the people they are serving? Are they to be imprisoned if, due to an honest error of judgement, they kill or injure? Take elderly or nervous drivers living in remote rural communities, relying absolutely on their vehicle and who are nevertheless perfectly competent. Are they to be hounded from the road for fear of imprisonment? Punishing such a person disproportionately will do nothing to bring the victim back, cannot act as a deterrent because we all make mistakes and will ruin many more lives for no good purpose. Sometimes an accident is just that and all the parties involved have to accept it however hard that may be. Seeking vengeance in a ?there is always somebody to blame? culture is not the way forward. Richard Leonard Menfreya Thorndon Cross