The Crown Prosecution Service has kindly sent Antithesis a copy of its Code for Crown Prosecutors. Page one, chapter one, section 1.1, first sentence says: "The decision to prosecute an individual is a serious step." Aristocratic body-part artist Anthony-Noel Kelly, charged in April with stealing body parts to use in his works, will be heartened to learn that CPS does not take things lightly.
He had his bail extended until June to allow the coppers to carry out further investigation, but the CPS says it still has not received the files from the police. Mr Kelly will be interested to know the basis on which CPS decides to prosecute, especially the intriguing criterion of the "public interest test" - whether the public interest is served by prosecution. "The CPS will only start or continue a prosecution when the case has passed both tests," says the code. Time for Mr Kelly to start a petition of the public what?