Liberty - Protecting civil liberties, promoting human rights

John Wadham, director of Liberty:

"People naturally want to know everything about the person they're trying - but the survey also shows the very real dangers of this. If around half of people say it would affect their verdict, it means they're concentrating on their view of the person, rather than the evidence of whether they committed this particular crime.

"The reason people want to know is precisely the reason they shouldn't - they'll assess the person rather than the evidence on this particular case. Previous convictions do not prove that someone committed this offence on this occasion. Where they're directly relevant, juries can already be told; telling juries about them in general may get the result the Government wants - more convictions - but far too many of them will be the wrongful convictions of innocent people.

"If you convict the wrong people, both the innocent defendant and the victim suffer; only the guilty benefit".