Rolf Harris found Guilty

This is going to be somewhat controversial but I have to get it off my chest somewhere.

Long-time variety favority of British Television Rolf Harris has been found guilty of 12 sexually related crimes today. This surprises me because I followed the trial through coverage of the court room on the internet and either those covering it did a very bad job or it was a more compelling case live. Whatever the case it seemed to me that the prescution;s argument was very weak, and I'm going to go through the list of charges Rolf's been found guilty of.

1 - One woman said she was aged seven or eight when she queued to get an autograph from Harris at a community centre in Hampshire in 1968 or 1969. When she reached the front of the queue, Harris had touched her inappropriately with his "big hairy hands" repeatedly

This woman claimed this happened in Portsmouth around the time Two Little Boys was a big hit. There was no record and no report in the media of Rolf Harris ever appearing in Portsmouth at that time. Coinedentally the woman he had big hairy hand and Rolf showed the court that this was the case, but considering he's been a TV celebrity for 50+ years and a famous artist as well you done have to be groped by him to know this.

This seems to have a case of her word against his without any evidence to support her version but they jury have gone for it.

2 - Another woman said she had been working as a waitress, at the age of 13 or 14, at a charity event in Cambridge in 1975 when Harris had groped her bottom.

Rolf claimed he was unaware the event was held in Cambridge and one of the other celebrities who took part backed him up. Furthermore when Rolf appeared in Cambridge it was 1978, not 1975.

This seems to have been another case of her word against his where her word was given more credibility than his.

3 - Seven of the 12 charges related to a childhood friend of Harris's daughter Bindi

Bindi's friend claimed Rolf groomed her from a young age, sexually assaulted her in the presence of his wife and daughter, sexually assaulted her behind his parents house in Australia when on holiday and many other times. She didn't record any of this in her diary, none of her friend saw any change in her behaviour towards Rolf or in her daily life. She then had an affair with him when she was a adult but became an alcholic and blamed him.

The main evidence against Rolf was a letter he wrote to her father where he said he was ashamed of his action and that he was wrong when he convinced himself everything was consensual. This one has more substance, but there is still didn't seem to be any evidence to back up her claim that any of it happened before she was 18, it was her word against his again.

4 - Tonya Lee was a 15-year-old on a theatre trip from Australia to the UK when, she said, the entertainer fondled her.

She couldn't get her story straight. She said she was assault at the beginning of the trip, then it was the end of the trip, she said Rolf's actions had destroyed her life and effected her health, only for it emerge from familty and friend that the problem said she had were around before she met Rolf, further she sold her story to media to make money. Harris denied ever having met her.

Once more, this seems to have been her word against his where her word won out.

Now, this is only going on what I saw of the court-room coverage online and, as I said, it was perhap more of a convincing case where you were there, but on the face of it this convinction seems to have been made on very flimsy terms and it will be interesting to see whether Rolf appeals it or not.

Sorry to go back to this again but, it boggles my mind how that jury could find Rolf guilty of the 1st and 2nd cases. The prosecution couldn't even place him in the location the alleged incidents occured at the time they claimed it happened - not only failing to find any record appearing in the Portsmouth area during the period they accused him of groping a child for the first case but being three years out and several miles away for the second.

The prosecution got a conviction based seemingly on proving there was a "pattern of behavior" instead of proof of guilt, and I dont think that's an acceptable way to prosecute a case against anyone.

Here's an examination of the trial: http://rationalthoughtprocess.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/mob-rule-worries-raised-by-the-rolf-harris-trial-a-miscarriage-of-justice/

I swear to god, this fucker.... just... argh...

Interesting enough read, though, WT.