A 56 year old married father who was a school teacher killed himself last night in Bourne End, Herts - hours before facing trial for multiple historic rape allegations.

I have no idea whether he was innocent or guilty and don't want to seem to assume the former every time but I do think this illustrates the very dangerous trend in society.

The whole emphasis is on helping the accuser,not on the effect on the accused.

They simply charge any accusation these days,with the view that the jury must decide.In times past they would investigate the allegations first.Now they only tend to look for facts to back it up,not vice versa.

The suffering of the accused,often over a long period can be comparable to that of any genuine victim,bearing this in mind they should be much more sensitive before they launch into badly prepared prosecutions.Many innocent people commit suicide because even a wrongful charge can wreck a life,destroy a family,ruin a career etc.

We need to get back to a balance,that has long since been lost in the quest to appease the tabloids.

RIP Robert Stringer,guilty or not these things should never cost a life.