Police priorities

The greatest political scandal of the 1970s was the trial of Jeremy Thorpe, the one-time Liberal leader, on charges of conspiracy to murder his former lover Norman Scott. Those too young to remember this extraordinary event have been able to catch up via the BBC’S compelling drama, which concluded last night. Thorpe and his three co-defendants were acquitted. The only person prosecuted and jailed was Andrew Newton, who killed Scott’s pet dog Rinka. He subsequently gave evidence against Thorpe at his trial, though the judge called him a perjurer.

It had been thought Newton was dead, but he has been tracked down to Redhill in Surrey where he has lived under a new name. Now the police are saying that this revelation may be cause for them to reopen the case, though to what purpose is not entirely clear. Newton was imprisoned, albeit not for attempted murder, and all but one of the other main protagonists in the alleged plot are dead, including Thorpe. It is hard to see what charges could be brought against anyone who is still alive or has not already been prosecuted.

The police spent much time and effort investigating a pack of lies about another politician from the same era, Edward Heath. With violent crime on the rise and the police claiming they do not have the resources to respond to burglaries, it is hard to see what an inquiry 40 years after the Thorpe affair will uncover.

Mr Scott is aggrieved that the alleged conspirators were acquitted; but it is not the job of the police to clear up past mysteries unless there is a realistic chance that the culprits can be brought before a court. In this case there isn’t. They should leave it to the dramatists.