I WAS outraged at the conviction or re-conviction of Michael Stone for the bludgeoning to death of a woman and her little daughter.

I thought the basis of British justice was that real evidence had to be produced in order to secure a conviction.

It seems that all the police have to do these days is produce one of their informants, who in practice will probably be a villain with his own agenda, to say "He admitted it in a conversation with me" and, bingo, you are convicted of anything from shoplifting to serial killing.

Michael Stone, like Barry George in the Jill Dando case, is a convenient fall-guy, to keep the books neat and tidy.

R. M.