Free Linda Carty.

Firstly, apologies in advance to any Texans in particular, or US citizens in general, who may be offended by the comments I am about to make, for tonight I watched a documentary by Steve Humphries, a British journalist, about the plight of a British citizen, Linda Carty, who sits in a Texas Prison on Death Row.

Certainly all the media and press releases about this case, which I recall seeing and hearing at the time some 6 or 7 years ago, would have you believe was an evil woman who deserved the harshest of punishment.

However, after a number of appeals and some high profile PR stunts in the UK to bring the case back to our attention, Steve Humphries set out to see what all the fuss was about. What he discovered was that her conviction and sentence to Death by Lethal injection was based upon a series of circumstantial events and evidence, combined with the testimony of two 'suspect' individuals whose collaborative deal with the prosecution involved confessions and statements implicating Carty provided them both with a reduced sentence including immunity from the death sentence. There's motive if ever I heard it.

Combine this with a lawyer who saw Carty for 15 minutes before the trial, failed to contact or include character witnesses in her defence which he was obligated to do, and frankly failed to provide any degree of adequate defence, then you have a case that at the very least should be looked into a little more carefully, for there is clearly an argument for doubt.

And yet, appeals to review have been denied by intransigence in Texas and she now faces her fate some time real soon. If there was one piece of doubt raised in this documentary, that should be enough put the sentence on hold....but nearly all the evidence leads to doubt.

I was moved by this story. I have signed her petition and made a contribution. I can only hope that the powers that be in Texas display some human qualities and answer the questions raised by the programme. I know it is not my country, but we are (with the USA and others) all supposed to be the civilised western world...aren't we? Seems to me that even if she were culpable, then she needs help, not killing.

Here's hoping someone in the US picks up the baton and asks some questions...louder. If not. Shame on the State of Texas.