Her job needs street smarts just as much as academic prowess

IT IS a truth universally acknowledged that while being book-smart may get you places in a career, a certain level of streetsmarts is essential for a happy life. The latter is probably just another word for social skills, or common sense, but very often the rewards of years and years of patient study seem to come at a cost. The 25year-old barrister who faced charges this week of stealing two high-end bikes at the behest of her teenage boyfriend is a case in point. Shauna Roe, pictured, is a brainy girl, but she got involved with a 17-year-old who, a court heard this week, subjected her to domestic violence. It also heard she had got pregnant and had lost the baby at the time of her arrest. Did Shauna spend so many years lost in legal texts that she couldn’t tell the difference between a teenager and a peer or between a decent young man and someone who might lead her badly astray? Or was it to protect herself from her vulnerable nature and to prove herself the reason she undertook such a demanding course of study in the first place? Unfortunately, she picked a tough career where both types of intelligence are needed, as well as, ideally, a clean record. The court has given her a second chance to prove her moral fibre. Hopefully she won’t squander it again.