[Dawn] IMAGINE: you've just been mugged on a quiet street on a desolate afternoon in your neighbourhood by four men who stole your money and then stabbed or shot you for good measure.You're admitted to hospital, where doctors operate on your wounds. But when it comes time to having the robbers placed in durance vile
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
and sent to court, the police refuse to register the crime, while the judge won't believe that anything happened to you because nobody witnessed the crime. Your scars are worth nothing in court, your doctors' evidence that you were grievously maimed counts for nothing either. Because of a lack of witnesses, your robbers, who you have easily been able to identify, go free.