Example of moral crime 1 Moral Crime By Sally Ramage (In Criminal Law NewsIssue 87-January 2016) Keywords Sir Norwood East, Medical officer; Local Authority; Dr Gerald Ramage; Staffordshire in England, United Kingdom; suicide unrecorded; criminality; crime and maturity; morality; Criminal Law NewsDecember 2015. Abstract 'Crime is a prohibited act from which results in more evil than good' is how Jeremy Bentham described crime. 'Crime is a serious anti-social action to which the State reacts consciously by inflicting pain', is how W.A.Bonger describes crime. Morality and its lack thereof is related to crime. Morality is so closely interwoven with social conduct and immorality interwoven with criminal conduct that it is desirable to investigate this matter further and so this shorter version of a paper by S. Ramage is the vehicle by which to look further into this issue of moral crime which notion is based on accepted moral code and common sense. We need to urgently study moral crime if we are to arrest the current moral decline in society and restore integrity and trust to the human race. The related subject of Example of moral crime 2 eyewitness memory in real-life traumatic events as described here, impact on the witness in such a way as to narrow the witness's attention to details of core aspects of an incident which are stored and remembered for long afterwards. Consequently laboratory studies cannot be said to have demonstrated that memory for traumatic events is unreliable. 1 In this example we see that maturity does not mellow the human psyche as modern criminal law states. It was Sir Norwood East who stated that 'acquisitiveness, aggressiveness and sexuality are often closely associated but the maturity which changes criminality is never going to be present until one is conscious of one's own maturity by beginning to live in that consciousness'. Social conduct must be cultivated. Crucially, sociologists argue that social conduct may vary with time and place. However, the case of maturity is different when considering those in formative early life and also in declining periods of life. It must be cultivated. It does not happen automatically with age and some people can never change since their greed, selfishness and criminal inclinations remain steadfast. To these types, there is no resilience learnt because resilience is characteristic of the formative period of life when the disappointments of today are counterbalanced by the anticipations of tomorrow. Introduction The following memorial will uncover the heinous moral crime of offspring and relatives committed against their own 'flesh and blood' relative. Many will not accept any immorality of their behaviour and this is exactly why the topic has been broached. 1 Kapardis, A. (2003) Psychology and Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, at pages 41-42. Example of moral crime 3 Gerald Ramage born in Lancashire Dr Gerald Ramage (born 1906) was the younger child born to William Ramage and Margaret Ramage (nee Fox). Gerald's older brother was Oliver Ramage (born on 21 February 1905) 2 and he had an older sister, Margaret Phyllis Ramage (born 1907). Dr Gerald Ramage's father, William Ramage was also born in Lancashire –and had been a cotton agent, married to Margaret Fox, also born in Lancashire. They had two offspring, Oliver and Gerald Ramage. Oliver married into the trade Oliver Ramage grew up to become a silk manufacturer in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England where he died in 1976. He had married the daughter of a wool manufacturer and they had built a factory in Cheshire 3 . Gerald went to study medicine at Manchester University and lived his professional decades of life as Chief Medical Officer of Staffordshire, England. Many knew him simply as 'G'. He became friends with a law student Roderick Davis (who became a solicitor) whilst at Manchester University. Gerald Ramage became Chief Medical Officer of the Staffordshire region of England, United Kingdom for four decades. 4 2 Oliver's father, William Ramage, born in 1869, had been a cotton merchant, dealing on the Manchester Cotton Exchange. Later, he went into the cigarette business and was Chairman of the London company R & J Hill, the cigarette company (formed in 1875 and made public in 1905) which manufactured two brands of cigarettes, trademarked Sunripe and Spinet. Oliver was the eldest of three siblings and Margaret Phyllis Ramage and Gerald . After he married Alice Mellodew of the Velvet manufacturing family, they settled in Prestbury in East Cheshire, where family members still live. Prestbury already had a railway to Macclesfield and Wilmslow, and was situated at a near distance to Manchester city centre and to the stately homes of Tatton, Chatsworth and Lyme Park2. Oliver Ramage, soon after he retired from the business, became ill and died on 26th August 1976. 3 Sally Ramage, 'A story of silk and velvet manufacture, wealth creation, intellectual property laws, commercial and criminal laws in Victorian United Kingdom: part 1', The Criminal Lawyer, Issue 224, January/February 2015. Mrs Alice Ramage (nee Mellowdew) was a competent businesswoman throughout her working life and had been in partnership with her husband in his silk manufacturing business in Macclesfield. After Oliver Ramage died, she remained an active director of the company until her retirement 4 The Chief Medical Officer of a region of the United Kingdom (UK) has a wide remit. For example, with the recent African outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease, and with hundreds of thousands –even millions of British citizens travelling broad with great frequency Example of moral crime 4 Marriage of Gerald and Effie Roderick Davis, Gerald Ramage's college friend, had two sisters: one sister became a career social worker culminating in the honour of the award from Her Majesty the Queen, of Member of the British Empire (MBE) and as Director of Social Services at Manchester City Council. The younger sister, who became a housewife, was Effie, whom Gerald Ramage married. She was deaf. Chief Medical Officer of Staffordshire County Council Dr Gerald Ramage spent most of his professional life in public health. Because this was his intention he studied further for a degree in administration and also attempted a higher degree on the topic of Poor Law. His first job was in Stockport and he moved to become deputy medical officer for Staffordshire County Council from 1939 to 1946. He was then promoted to Chief Medical Officer in 1946 and remained in that job until 1986, during which time; he represented the UK at the World Health Organisation during a sabbatical year. Today the Public Health Director for Staffordshire is Dr Aliko Ahmed. After Gerald Ramage retired from his lifelong position as Chief Medical Officer for Staffordshire (in the United Kingdom) he developed an interest in industrial medicine and made a second career for himself from 1987 to 1991 at Thorn EMI factory until his death. Local Politics, Community Affairs, Photography Gerald Ramage was consistent and methodical. His hobbies included photography and gardening. His other interests were in the local community and in politics and he was President of the Stafford Conservatives for a very long time. today, Public Health England works with government colleagues, the World Health Organisation and a wide range of partners, including UNICEF and Medecins Sans Frontieres, to provide support to the affected countries. Providing UK support and assistance in halting the rise of the disease in West Africa is by far the most effective way of preventing Ebola infecting people in the UK. See https://www.staffordshireprepared.gov.uk/news/Ebola.aspx, accessed 10.11.15. Example of moral crime 5 Personal preparations Before Gerald Ramage died, he had been to have his hair cut that morning and then visited his favourite friends, Dr Marion Liss and her husband Magistrate Barry Liss that afternoon. He died that night in bed. He had sorted out his taxation papers and put all his probate papers in order and left a cassette tape recording (for Roderick Ramage) of his wishes for his old car to be sold and details of the house furniture to which he was attached, although of no monetary value and in need of replacement. In his cassette tape recording, Dr Gerald Ramage asked Roderick to live with his mother who suffered from deafness disability. Planned death Effie Ramage must have known of the pending planned death because she had laid out her black clothes for the next morning. Roderick Ramage never did go to live with his mother but paid for sitters to stay with her and even to accompany her on holiday. He remained in Stoke-on-Trent because he was involved with a married woman, his typist at the law firm where he worked. 5 Death certificate stated otherwise His family believe that he planned his suicide although his death certificate did not state this because he did suffer from throat cancer in the year before he died and underwent successful surgical procedures, which is why his death was such a shock to the medical community who were not informed of his death by the family. However one doctor learnt 5 This relationship with the married woman did not last because as soon as Effie Ramage died, the family closed in and his daughter by his first marriage stepped in as surrogate wife, accompanying him to law functions and parties to ensure that the typist was shifted out, until she herself began dating people. Her behaviour was peculiar and over-intimate. Meanwhile he had a myriad of affairs with dozens of women as I discovered on stumbling over his thousand page ten year journal in which he laboriously described the minutiae of his acts. Example of moral crime 6 of his death from a local newspaper and he quickly published an official obituary in one of the medical journals, after which, all of Dr Gerald Ramage's public health colleagues learnt that he had died but were too late for any attendance at his very short funeral service and cremation in Stafford. End of Gerald Ramage's life In essence, some believe that Dr Gerald Ramage has planned and had committed suicide but this was not recorded on his death certificate. This must be seen as a huge shame for a man who dedicated his life to public health and for whom old age, with or without illness, is a much deserved reward. He had told the farmer next door that he expected to live for a very long time. His diet was good and he had made a splendid recovery from a bit of cancerous tissue found in his throat, after which surgery he and his wife, Effie, went on a long holiday to Europe in his classic car, an old Rolls Royce car. All were therefore surprised when suddenly his death was announced by the Stafford funeral directors, especially as many had seen him driving about the previous day, waving to them, as he always cheerfully did. Numerous tributes sent to Effie Dr. H.H. John, then Medical Officer of the Port and City of London 6 , wrote to Effie: ' It was with great sadness that I have just come across G's Obituary in the current British Medical Journal...G was a splendid example and inspiration 6 The London Port Health Authority is the largest port health authority in the UK, responsible for all port health functions on the Thames, including the ports at Tilbury; London Gateway; Thamesport; Sheerness; and London City Airport. Its functions include imported food and feed controls; infectious disease controls; food safety and hygiene including water quality; shellfish controls and vessel inspections and issue of ship sanitation documentation. Example of moral crime 7 to all of us who worked with him and for my part I shall always be grateful for his encouragement and the training I received at his hands'. Gerald Ramage undoubtedly made a considerable contribution to public health, both in Staffordshire and through the Association of County Medical Officers 7 , now known as the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) of which he was always a stalwart supporter, as well as the International Society of Public Health Medical Officers. 8 He will be long remembered in high standing in the profession and in Staffordshire. I found a file of the many written tributes posted to Mrs Effie Ramage which she had kept but which none of the family knew of nor found when raiding the house for valuables. Tributes One tribute was from a Coppenhall resident who said: 'It was a privilege to know G. No-one else so combined mature intellect and breadth of experience with the eternal curiousness of a child. And such kindness...' Another Coppenhall resident, Tony, wrote: 'G was a very practical person and my impression is he would not subcontract a job if he could possibly do it himself...' Tony was Rita's husband. 7 In 1902, the Association of County Medical Officers of Health of England and Wales (ACMOH) broke from the ISMOH. See http://www.adph.org.uk/about-adph/history/ accessed 10-11-2015. Today, Dr Andrew Furber is the President of the Association of Directors of Public Health. 8 Smith, J., Chatfield, C., and Pagnocco, R. (eds) (1997) Transnational Social Movements and Global Politics: Solidarity Beyond the State (Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution), US: Syracuse University Press. Example of moral crime 8 Copehale, Coppenhall, Stafford ST18 9BW Gerald Ramage and his wife Effie Ramage lived at Copehale, Coppenhall, Stafford, ST18 9BW, United Kingdom. They had two offspring Alicia (deceased) and Roderick, my husband of sixteen years. The house was in disrepair, in need of a new roof, new electricity wiring, central heating, double glazing, new kitchen, carpets, utilities, and doors, yet Gerald Ramage left £0.75 million in probate. No memorial stone erected It is very sad that no Obituary or Memorial stone was erected and that none of the family bothered to find all the letters, memories and photograph of Dr Ramage until I married Roderick Ramage and came to live in the old, dilapidated, ramshackle house at Copehale, Coppenhall, Stafford. Gerald Ramage was over 80 years old when he died and all the windows were cracked; the electricity and water and gas pipes needed to be replaced after 40 years and the whole house needed gutting. Valuables including jewellery quickly despatched The family at the time keenly despatched the silver and other monetary valuables in the house, yet could not even be bothered to pay for a decent memorial plot in the cemetery but uncouthly scattered his ashes in the garden, even though Dr Ramage had left over £750,000.00 according to his probate as advertised in the newspapers. Memorial tree in 2008 In the year 2008, I arranged and paid for a memorial tree to be planted at the Stafford Local Authority Cemetery in memory of Dr Gerald Ramage. The tree takes pride of place as one enters Stafford Cemetery, just opposite the Office. The staff there chose the Ginka tree because of its medicinal propertiesa fitting tribute. Also in 2008, Roderick Ramage Example of moral crime 9 and I decided to have a Memorial Stone and burial plot at Stafford Cemetery, which I paid for, and this already has the memorial erected with Gerald and Effie Ramage's names, space left for ours. It is so true that family members are often the last to appreciate the value of anyone such as Dr Gerald Ramage. Neither offspring, Roderick nor Alicia (who remarried after her own husband barrister-at-law Wilkinson curiously died suddenly aged just 40 years) bothered. Example of moral crime 10 Roderick's children did not bother to attend funerals The family, offspring and grandchildren, some of whom did not even attend his funeral, literally raided the place, took the valuables and left the most precious things that had no monetary value. In the house, after Effie's death five years later, I found Gerald's medical public health thesis which he had written on the Local Government Act 1925. During all the years of being Gerald Ramage's children, neither had read his thesis. I was able to quote extensively from it in my Annotations of the United Kingdom's Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, which was published by Thomson Reuters in Current Law Statutes Annotated, published annually by Sweet & Maxwell in volumes titled Current Law Statutes Annotated. His name will remain in that statute's annotated bibliography forever. I would think it would have pleased him. Often, family are quick to grab the money, fight over the monetary valuables, yet never having bothered to get to know their own father, and grandfather, except what money they could receive from the death. It is truly and deeply sad. Example of moral crime 11 Medical degree certificate from Manchester University I found Gerald Ramage's medical degree certificate from Manchester University, under the carpet, scruffy, mangy and like rubbish. I found a lovely photograph, taken by the Staffordshire County Council's photographer for a huge corporate event. I found it underneath an old rusty bed, nearly thrown out. It has now been decently mounted and framed by the Art Shop in Stafford and in pride of place in the living room, where it belongs and I happily work long hours writing law papers in his company. Still fighting for money This is family and families' worth... I have been decimated and destroyed by this woman, her brother and their mother, who did not speak to Gerald Ramage for dozens of years and did not attend his funeral. Ignorantly, and promulgated by the avaricious Welsh housewife/landlady/ ex-wife of R (having herself been though several short-lived marriages/relationships) had thought that she would receive less monetary lavish handouts from R because we were marriedbut in fact since we married his income drastically increased from £50,000 per annum to £250,000 per annum (gross), most of which he succumbed to giving to her as she saw no reason nor had no intellectual staying powerto hold down any job. She is 50 years old and has only ever worked for 4 years part-time, two days a week. This is families' worth. R was busy carrying on an illict and unethical sex affair with a married typist at the law-firm where he worked. He had no time for his parents. More letters of surprise at such a hurried funeral Peter Lawrence, then Chairman of the South Staffordshire Conservative Association, wrote: Example of moral crime 12 'Gee was the backbone of this Branch for many years and when he relinquished the chairmanship to me he handed over the most effective branch in South Staffordshire. Thanks to his hard work, my task has been a very pleasant one. In later years we have enjoyed his support and wise counsel in his office as President. It would be very difficult to over-estimate the value of the work and support he gave to "the cause" ... We all hope that the knowledge that so many people share your grief, together with their affection and the passage of time, will make your loss more bearable.' Example of moral crime 13 Dr Settle placed an obituary in the Stereoscopic Society's Bulletin Luckily, Gerald Ramage's Obituary was placed in the Stereoscopic Society's Bulletin by Dr. H. L. Settle who received a grateful letter back from the Editor, Donald Wratten. Dr Wratten wrote to Dr Settle: 'Thank you for the sympathetic Obituary you enclosed of Gerald Ramage.... I very much enjoyed meeting Gerald Ramage at our annual conventions and was very attracted by his lively and robust attitude to life. All Society members who were privileged to know him will miss him greatly.' Twinning of Penkridge with Ablon-sur-Seine, France Penkridge Parish Council's Parish Administrator Mr Newman wrote to Effie Ramage: 'I met with Dr. Ramage a number of times over the years but more recently during our arrangements for the twinning of Penkridge with Ablon-sur-Seine, France. His cheery wave and his smile, together with his help and advice, will long be remembered.' Penkridge Twinning Association's Honorary Secretary Eunice Phillips wrote to Effie Ramage: 'Dr. Ramage was totally responsible for the success of the twinning and we shall never ever forget what he did for us in this direction. He will be sadly missed on both sides of the Channel...I feel I have lost a good friend and counsellor.' More tributes Dr Gerald Ramage's colleague Mr. Greenwood wrote to Effie: Example of moral crime 14 'It is hard to appreciate that I knew him for fifty years, from the time you came to Stafford in the nineteen forties. We worked closely together until his retirement and it was always a pleasure and such an education to do so. My wife and I would like to extend our deepest sympathy...' The family: Ramages and Wilkinsons Gerald and Effie had one daughter Alicia who died in 2001. Mrs Alicia Spears was formerly married to Mr Wilkinson, a barrister-at-law, who curiously died suddenly at age 40. Their two sons are Charles Rupert Wilkinson, a solicitor, and Adam Fraser Wilkinson, who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. Both sons were married in 2008 and photos are it is a shame that Gerald never had the pleasure to attend these events. Spoilt offspring both with multiple marriages/partners Roderick's two offspring both have had multiple unsuccessful relationships and three marriages, for which Roderick has been forced to bear all expenses. He is the 'wallet' of the ex-wife and offspring even though they are now 50 years old and even though he has been divorced 25 years ago from their mother. They have a very strong hold over his money, similar to emotional blackmail. More tributesMember of Parliament Patrick Cormack More praises for Gerald came in the form of many letters to Effie. The Right Honourable Patrick Cormack, Member of Parliament, wrote to Effie on 7th May: '...I have just heard the sad news ...G was a wonderful man and I shall always remember him with fond affection and great respect.... he was a 'true Example of moral crime 15 gentleman' in every sense of both words. As I know only too well, he was a staunch friend in difficult times but he was never afraid to speak his mind and for him, honesty was what counted in life. There are not many of us of whom it can be said that every cause he embraced was the better for his advocacy and everyone with whom he worked the better for his friendship. But G was such a man. He will be remembered and greatly missed, both by you and many others and pray that you will be sustained by your countless happy memories...' Condolences from Sir Patrick Salt Sir Patrick Salt 9 , director of Cassidy Davis Members Agency Limited wrote to Effie: 'All at Cassidy Davis 10 were very sad to read of Gerald's death. I have known Gerald for twelve years; if everyone conducted their business with such probity and good cheer in difficult times, the world would be greatly improved. As we shall miss him, we are aware of your huge loss and you have our utmost sympathy.' Dr Allan Whitnell of Gloucester 11 wrote to Effie: 'Jane and I were shocked to see G's Obituary in the current British Medical Journal. We knew he had been very ill but 9 Sir Patrick Macdonnell Salt, 7th Bt. was born on 25 September 1932. He is the son of John William Titus Salt and Dorothy Baker Brown. He married Ann Elizabeth Mary Roberts, daughter of Dr Thomas Kay Maclachlan and widow of Denys Kilham Roberts, on 1 July 1976. He lived in Saltaire, County York. He was educated in Stowe. He was also known as 7th and present Baronet (a UK Life Peer). In 1983 he was a member of Lloyd's, He was director of Cassidy Davis Members Agency. In 1991 succeeded brother and in 2003 he moved to Hillwatering Farmhouse, Langham, Suffolk IP31 3ED. 10 Cassidy David Members Limited is now dissolved. 11 Allen Whitnell, Retired Medical Officer, 'The Natural Cure of Coronary Heart Disease', Nutrition and Health, January 2003 vol. 17 no. 1, pgs 55-60 SAGE. 'Following the development of coronary heart disease in 1989 I was introduced to an alumnus of the Pritikin Longevity Center in California and I adopted the regimen of diet and exercise. Within five months I was able to abandon all medication and was symptom free. My medical colleagues maintained that, because I had recovered, the Consultant's diagnosis must have been wrong-there can be no cure of coronary heart disease by lifestyle changes alone. As a result of my experience I decided to review the literature to study the natural history of coronary heart disease. My findings strongly suggest that the increase in incidence in the last hundred years from virtually nil to epidemic proportions is due to lifestyle changes and that the disease can be reversed. I list a number of doctors who have influenced large numbers of people to change their lifestyles with great success. They have utilised mainly plant-based diets whose composition is the same or similar to that which Pritikin originally used and which is still extant at the Longevity Center.I conclude by suggesting that the possibility of reversal of coronary heart disease has profound implications for its treatment with enormous potential savings for the National Health Service' Example of moral crime 16 thought he was recovering. We last saw him in August 1990 at Bert Wilson's funeral and he said then that he felt he had had a new lease of life. He was always very kind to me-I do not recall a single cross word during the time I worked for him. I always felt that he had a very great influence on my career-firstly giving me increasing responsibility as his deputy; supporting my application in coming to Gloucestershire and then being instrumental in my appointment as Area Medical Officermy last full-time post...' Tribute from stockbroker PW Barratt Stock-broker Peter W Barratt of Allied Provincial Securities Ltd 12 wrote to Effie: 12 Allied Provincial Securities Limited, formerly Allied Provincial Limited and Allied Provincial Investment Management Limited, of address: 155 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, G2 5NN, was in 2007 and closed down, being one of 28 firms that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) had declared in default.( FSCS is the UK's statutory fund of last resort for customers of regulated financial services firms. The service is free to consumers. Declaring a firm in default is the final part of a process whereby a regulated firm (such as a financial adviser) has been found by FSCS to be unable to pay claims. This means that customers who have lost money as a result of dealings with one of these firms can make a claim for compensation to FSCS). See http://www.fscs.org.uk/uploaded_files/Publications/press-releases/2007/Press_Release_13_Feb_2007.pdf, accessed on 9-11-2015. Example of moral crime 17 'I was so sorry to read in the Daily Telegraph of May 7th, of Gerald's death. Please accept my deepest sympathies at this very sad time for you. I know we communicated fairly recently, and he inferred that, though he was not one hundred percent, he was keeping reasonably active. From my point of view I am always sorry to lose business friends such as Gerald whom we have dealt with for so many years...' Tribute from colleague F Murphy Mr. Frank Murphy, Consultant Surgeon at Stafford District General Hospital, wrote to Effie: '... In the short period that I knew him, I certainly feel that he lived a full and very variable life and was an example to his colleagues...' Tribute from his Jersey solicitors Nigel Harris Nigel Harris of Nigel Harris Solicitors, Oak Walk, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands 13 , wrote to Effie: '...I really liked working with him and looked at him as a friend and as a client. I always enjoyed the times we met together and I want you to know that I shall miss him too. ...and I hope that it will comfort you to know how much he was admired as a great man.' Tribute from Stafford Film Society Gerry McPherson of the Stafford Film Society 14 wrote to Effie: 13 See http://www.solicitors-barristers.co.uk/channel-islands/jersey/nigel-harris-partners/, accessed 9.11.2015. 14 See http://www.fmcstaffs.co.uk/team/gerry-mcpherson/ accessed 9.11.2015. Example of moral crime 18 '...Although Dr Ramage resigned as President of the Society's a little while ago, we always felt that he gave us tremendous encouragement to see the next season through when it looked like funds would not permit us to continue. We do hope to see you at some of our future presentations...' Tribute from local Horticulture Society The Chairman of the Mid Staffordshire Horticultural Society Mr. A. Goodwin wrote to Effie: '...He was a valued member of our society for many years and we know how much he enjoyed the meetings. May I on behalf of our Society, extend to you our sincere condolences, and we are, as a tribute to your husband, enclosing a cheque in aid of the Hospice, as I understand you do not wish for flowers to be sent...' Tributes from close friends Mrs E Harvey, wife of Brian Harvey 15 , of the Toft, Dunston, Stafford, expert legal witness and consultant engineer, wrote to Effie: '...I feel it is almost an impertinence to try to find words to say how sorry Brian and I are to read the announcement in the Times. Suffice it to say that we are thinking of you and wish you strength, G and you were a wonderful couple and a great example to us all. We will always be grateful for the many topics that he has introduced us to and the kindness of you both when we first 15 Brian Harvey was a director of Harvey and Grant Limited, 50 George Square London. See http://www.companydirectorcheck.com/elspeth-aileen-harvey accessed 9.11.2015. Example of moral crime 19 came to Stafford. We will certainly remember him with love and pleasure not for a long time, but permanently...' G. Hodson of Stafford wrote to Effie: '...his great determination and ability to cope with any problem...' Mary from Coppenhall, Stafford, wrote to Effie: 'He was a person for whom I had a very high regard and I was very touched by the warmth and courtesy of his friendship. It was so reassuring to me. I did appreciate his joining us and talking to me the last time I visited and saw him. It is a memory along with that of so many other occasions that I shall always have and value.' A friend from Ablon-sur-Seine in France wrote to Effie: '...we think very heartily of Geraldwe have enjoyed his deep character and how clever and kind he was...' Thorn EMI Electronics: Factory doctor After Dr G Ramage retired at age 65 as Chief Medical Officer of Staffordshire County Council, he worked as consultant to Thorn EMI Electronics at Rugeley, Staffordshire. R spread his father and mother's ashes in the garden and that was that. No memorial; he and Alicia just put the ashes in the garden and shared out the money-lots of money- £750,000.00. This money did not do R's offspring any good. After a private education, one ended up as a bus driver and today both are unemployed. They did not learn anything about frugality, saving or hard continuous work but only about demanding money from a father scared to displease them. One offspring had been diagnosed in 2000 with Example of moral crime 20 clinical 16 depression after he was hospitalised after he deliberately walked in front of a bus; broke his legs; was hospitalised; then pursued a personal injury claim against the bus company in Macclesfield. One other, suspected with bipolar, was apparently sacked after she walked out on a woman patient giving birth and in labour, without telling any other staff members, and went home. Their other parent only worked for a year or so as a primary school teacher and successfully through her husband claimed an early pension, yet ended up in possession of three properties which she is landlady of, plus her industrial pension, plus her state pension, plus £5000 net annual amount from her ex-husband ,R. They never stop asking him to pay their utilities bills; car repairs, car replacements and white goods also. Two years ago, R apparently provided £175,000.00 plus Value Added Tax for W to buy a public housethis finance maybe provided for by skimming R's pension funds without consent. It is incorrigible to give £175,000.00 to a man with no proven business acumen; no previous history of business success or qualifications in business – to run a public house with a new wife whose only working experience in this country is as an auxiliary in a nursing home and her brother who had been a waiter in a local hotel. It is immoral of any solicitor to pretend that he is under the spell of his offspring, whilst practicing as a commercial solicitor. On the other hand I am a registered and licensed public accountant in the United Kingdom and with two higher degrees in management and law at United Kingdom universities and with 25 years of practicing accountancy under my belt, including forensic accountancy, before launching into 16 Some might argue this to be a personality disorder, of which, clinically, there are ten different forms of personality disorder identified, from paranoid to obsessive –compulsive in a cluster called antisocial or borderline personality disorder. Canter, D. (2010) Forensic psychology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 92. Example of moral crime 21 forensic law. Unabated and unstopped, they continually harass me with silent phone calls, day and night. Yet it is difficult to take legal action against a solicitor 17 in the United Kingdom, especially if the would-be litigant is non-white and female, however many degrees one holds and despite the European Convention on Human Rights 1948. 18 The above mentioned appropriations represent money laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and as such it is an unrecorded property offence and a serious non-violent offence. 19 Such offences escape punishment and cannot be treated as failures of punishment. It is a blatant, everyday, muted miscarriage of justice. These are crimes within a marriage which are forced to be tolerated. Examples abound in the UK. Take instances of the wife whose body has never been found. 20 All she wanted was a divorce with her legal right to part of the couple's assets. Solicitors (gatekeeper officers of the law) and white –collar crime Such professionals are generally better educated and more sophisticated than most criminals. They commit their crimes not in a fit of passion, but with cold, careful calculation. They are the most rational offenders and are more likely than most to 17 It is not the law that is at fault. It is the officers of the law, from the police to solicitors to judges who refuse to properly enforce the law, civil and criminal, where it concerns a non-white spouse and a white husband. 18 In terms of protection of minorities and the role of the state. There should be formal political equality through political neutrality. On the face of it there is in the UK anti-discrimination laws, but they do not 'kick-in' in a divorce (civil matter) or even a murder (criminal justice matter). There was , some years ago, a murder of a coloured woman by a white husband and when police called because someone reported concern, the police report was slanted toward the wife's suicide by stabbing, until the coroner had to intervene and boldly state that she could not have knifed herself in the back, a straight case of police discrimination even in the face of the most serious criminal offence, murder. See also Birks, P. (2001) Pressing problems in the law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, at pages 117-155. 19 McGuire, J. (2008) Understanding psychology and crime: perspectives on theory and action, Berkshire: Open University Press. 20 The precedent has been active since the 1954 case of R v Michail Onufrejczy. The defendant, a highly decorated warrant officer in the Polish army had enlisted in the Polish Resettlement Corps in South Wales and had bought Cefn Hendre Farm in 1949 by loans from Polish Army Funds and in 1953 took on a business partner, a fellow veteran Stanislaw Sykut to help him run the dilapidated farm. Sykut brought with him a sum of capital of £600. Soon Sykut complained to police that Onufrejczyk had beaten him up and was bullying him. Sykut, on that same day he went to the police, he went to a local solicitor to arrange ending their partnership: either Onufrejczyk could buy him out or they would have to sell up and split the proceeds. By the end of 1953 Sykut had vanished, and Onufrejczyk claimed that Sykut had returned to Poland but was charged in August 1954 with Sykut's murder. But police could not find a body despite intensive searches of the farm. He was tried and convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He appealed, but the appeal was dismissed by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Goddard. See Nathan Bevan, 'A grisly history of Welsh murders', Wales Online, 29.03.2013. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/grisly-history-welsh-murders-2205058, accessed 25.12.2015. Example of moral crime 22 weigh the risks of possible courses of action against the anticipated rewards of criminal behavior. 21 Divorces and splits often result in crimes being divulged There are numerous cases 22 in which crime by one or other party is revealed when they commit adultery or divorce as in the case of United States v Muldrew, Giles Robert Hugh Darby and David John Bermington, a case that attracted enormous anti-United States press coverage in the UK. The case was of conspiracy to defraud $7.3 million in transactions involving Enron Corp. has come to public notice because the three and fighting extradition to the US. The prosecution alleged that, through a series of financial transactions, the three former bankers secretly invested in an Enron Special Purpose Entity (SPE), Southampton LP, and were able to siphon off $7.3 million that should have gone to the bank they were employed by. The three men fought extradition to the US from 2002 to 2006. Their charges were linked to the $80 billion collapse of Enron. Conclusion This is a study of moral crimes using methods of forensic psychology. 23 21 'The banality of fraud: re-situating the inside counsel as gatekeeper', 2005, Social Science Research Network at www.ssrn.com. The author suggests that the behavioral origins of lawyer acquiescence in corporate fraud are found in commonplace interactions in organizational settings. In other words, what we perceive as extraordinary behaviour on the part of counsel is better explained by analysing what is ordinary behavior in the corporate workplace. 22 Ted Thornhill, 'Suspicious wife of husband accused of murdering his son and first wife wire-tapped him during restaurant confessional', Mail, 16 September 2013. See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2421738/Cindy-Karlsen-wire-tapped-murdersuspect-husband-Karl-52-Romlus-New-York.html#ixzz3vGgXQ8eu , accessed 24.12.2015. The husband had told the suspicious second wife that his dead first wife Christina, was trapped in the bathroom after spilled kerosene was ignited by a faulty electric light. Christina was unable to escape through the bathroom window because Karlsen had boarded it up from the outside days before, saying it was broken. See also Editor, 'Pittsburgh researcher sentenced to life in prison, no parole for wife's cyanide killing', Pittsburgh News, 4 February 2015. See http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/cyanide-robert-ferranteautumn-klein-sentenced/nj34j/, accessed 24.12.2015. In the US, a former University of Pittsburgh Medical Center researcher was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison without possibility of parole in the cyanide poisoning death of his neurologist wife. 23 Forensic psychology is the study of criminals. Canter, D. (2010) Forensic psychology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, at page 5. Example of moral crime 23 Further Reading Editor, 'Husband charged with murdering his wife in 1981 cold case after a reality TV show uncovered new evidence', Associated Press, 4 November 2014, USA Wave 3 News, 23 November 2014. Editor, 'Man arrested for killing girlfriend, burning corpse', Editor, 'White man kills black woman with hammer', AP, 18 June 2010. Editor, 'White man kills black wife: search for body continues', AP, 15 January 2015. Editor, Man allegedly murders wifeflees to Dubai', NDTV, 29 March 2013. Editor, 'Dudley husband murder charge after wife dies', BBC News, 13 December 2015. Feldman, P. (1993) The psychology of crime, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Freeman, N. and Apstein, A. (2013) The art of the loophole: making the law work for you, London: Hodder & Stoughton. Reiman, J. (2007) (8 th edition) The rich get richer and the poor get prison: ideology, class, and criminal justice, Boston, MA: Pearson. Gail Shortland, 'Husband found guilty of wife's murder', Mirror News, 18 October 2015. Yuille, J.C. (1989) Credibility assessments, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publisher.