A fib or a little white lie can be intended to create no offense and to do no harm – yet often the harm arises.
Yet white lies can end a career. That’s what happened to a widely respected former federal Judge in Australia. Fined as a result of a speeding camera for going a reported 6 miles or so over the limit (according to Reuters) the Judge who faced a minor fine of £30 or thereabouts denied he was the driver and named another person. The case was thrown out initially but astoundingly it emerged the person named as the driver had a slight problem – they had died years before the speeding event.
Not content to admit an error of judgment the judge who has held a significant number of distinctions including the United Nations Peace Award to name but one of very many compounded the error by then suggesting his elderly mother had been driving.
Needless to say the evidence discredited that too. In short the Judge was charged with a number of counts of perverting the course of justice. The result reported in March 2009 on the BBC website is that the eminent Judge was found guilty and sentenced to prison for 3 years. It was an error of judgment that was not capable of appeal and which brought to an end a Judges distinguished career. He forgot the ultimate rule in law and in fact in personal injury claims too – honesty is always the best policy.
