An acquittal

Seven British soldiers accused of murdering an Iraqi civilian have been acquitted after the judge decided that the evidence against them was insufficient and could not sustain a conviction. Iraqi witnesses had lied and colluded to lie - a fact that should have been picked up by the Army's investigation. The net result of their slackness is either that seven men have been allowed to get away with murder, or (more likely) that seven innocent men have been put on trial for a crime they did not commit. Neither is a good result. If justice is to be served, it is essential that investigators do their fucking job and investigate properly - not just to gather sufficient evidence against the guilty, but also to clear the innocent. Unfortunately, they seem to prefer throwing half-arsed evidence at the first likely suspect and then whining about the inevitable acquittal afterwards.

Needless to say, this applies to ordinary crimes as well as to military ones.