Trial by jury

Read today that not only are the UK's prisons full, but there are years long waiting lists to get trials in front of a jury.

Made me think of my mother's accommodation in the Westminster Almshouses - a hot bed of gossip and scandal.

They can be quite a vicious nasty bunch in retirement villages. Full of petty spite and selfishness, made worse by being surrounded by each other, reinforcing each other's worst behaviours.

In the Summer, my mother once accidentally left me a voice note that captured her in mid-conversation with another set of oldies outside in their shared garden discussing immigration, race, and various other uncontroversial topics - it would have made the Ku Klux Klan blush.

Now it's Winter, the same group of people probably aren't on speaking terms anymore. It's that kind of place.

Never leave a weapon lying around an old folk's home.