The word ‘suspect’ has certain connotations, and they are almost always negative. “I loved the hotel, but the food was suspect.” “The salesman’s behaviour aroused much suspicion.” “The woman has been declared a suspect in the inquiry.”
There is a very high-profile missing-person enquiry unfolding on all channels of our media at the moment. It is now assumed, in the minds of most people following the story, that the person in question is almost certainly dead. Strangely, in these cases, evidence is very thin on the ground. A family holiday resort without CCTV?
What I find most interesting is that the country in which these events are unfolding has a system whereby certain legal rights are not granted to anyone involved in the case unless they agree to be labelled as a ‘suspect’ in the case. It couldn’t happen in the UK. Our papers are only too keen to hang, draw and quarter any self-declared suspect in such a grizzly affair. Perhaps there is cause for re-think of this use of language? 2 people are already branded, and another will almost certainly follow towards the end of today.
Prepare the gallows.
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