Over the Easter weekend I finally got round to reading Ben Goldacre‘s Bad Science
My edition of the book contained the chapter missing from the first edition, which could only be included after a nasty legal dispute had been settled. This chapter, arguably the most angrifying of the lot, is also freely available online and gives an excellent taster of the nastiness Goldacre brings to light in the book. Read it here.
The book also reminded me of the tragic case I wrote about earlier this year, in which a Dutch nurse was convicted of multiple murders on the basis of botched statistics and very little else – and as the case has progressed I thought I’d give a brief update. On 16 March, the public prosecution officially requested that Lucia’s conviction is overturned by the court. They did however not give an official apology to Ms. De Berk, which her attorney was upset about (link in Dutch). The court will give its final verdict next week, 16 14 April. All agree this is the one of the worst ever miscarriages of justice in Dutch history. I’ll keep you posted.
It’s pretty clear that Lucia de Berk will be judged not guilty of any murders or murder attempts. However, as the public prosecution delightfully rubbed in, her convictions for stealing two library books (she didn’t) and some medicines (I have some university pens and writing pads at home which I use for non university purposes) still stand. Worst of all, four times she lied under oath – namely four times she had handed over a fabricated high school diploma to a civil-servant when applying for a traineeship or a job. As many others did in those days, on advice of people in authority, when there was a terrible shortage of nurses but some regulations had recently been changed making it harder to become one. The point being 1) we know she’s evil, but she was too clever and the judges too stupid, for us to get her convicted, 2), since some of the charges against her have not been overturned, because it was not possible to have these lesser charges reviewed, she legally will not be elegible for any compensation. The punchline bring: once we decide that you’re guilty, you’re dead, like it or not.
14th April, not 16th!
Wow that’s quite amazing. In many ways the Netherlands is such a sensibly-run country with rational, open-minded people – I always find it extra astonishing when things go so badly wrong. I hope she finds some way of recovering from this whole ordeal….
Date corrected – thanks for pointing it out.