I'm sure he anticipated it would be rejected; it almost always is. Judges don't like contradicting each other. That's why I didn't even bother to attend my appeal hearing in 2003. If I had I might have realised that I not only knew the lead judge (there are always 3 for appeals) but had even had sex with him when we were at Cambridge University together in 1964. Judges tend not to mention these things to their fellows. It might cast doubt on their integrity (especially as, in 1964, that sort of behaviour was a crime).

But there is something very wrong with the system. I notice that one of the Judges on the Johnson appeal was Sweeney, the QC at my appeal. What a strange world.