Lecture Post 2

Entrapment in the Law and in the Public Eye

    Doctor Holmes did mention the issue of entrapment during his speech on the liberalization of Britain.  He spoke about the issues regarding the decriminalization of homosexual relations and the police entrapment that ensued, as well as the current debate regarding entrapment in prostitution. While the UK holds entrapment in certain circumstances illegal, it is not allowed as a valid defense in the court. However, popular public opinion garners sympathy for the entrapped in most cases regarding police entrapment.

    According to the UK Law Gazette, a police investigation is not considered entrapment if the suspect would have theoretically committed these actions without the aid of the police. However, this is quite a gray area reliant on heavy speculation. What the suspect "would" or "would not" have done is up to the judge and jury. Justice is endangered when it is reliant on such speculation as opposed to clear doctrines. However, if the case is entered into a courtroom, the suspect's actions are either "guilty" or "innocent" regardless of their provocation.

    It seems as if the jury in such cases is more likely to sway in the favor of the suspect if they have been entrapped. It is seen as perhaps a "sneaky" tactic; the law is luring the suspect into criminality rather than seeking out the criminal offenses already present. The Law Gazette presents a case on the same page regarding entrapment:
"When delivering their verdict of guilty in Hardwicke and Thwaites [2001] Crim L.R. 220: ‘The jury would like to say that the circumstances surrounding the case have made it very difficult for us to reach a decision. Had we been allowed to take the extreme provocation into account we would have undoubtedly reached a different verdict.’"
The jury is hereby constrained by the law. The jury is sympathetic to the accused, regardless of his/her guilt. The context regarding entrapment would have changed their verdict, were they allowed to consider the context. The gray area surrounding the legality of entrapment and the impossibility of taking entrapment into account in the jury presents a failing in the legal system. The jury's sympathies are poignant and speak to a sense of injustice done to the accused on behalf of the law, regardless of his or her guilt.

Sleight, David. "The Law Regarding Entrapment." The Law Gazette. 201