Of course good character cannot provide a defence to a criminal charge, but it is evidence which you should take into account in Mr. Park's favour in two ways: in the first place Mr. Park has given evidence, and as with any person of good character, his character supports his credibility. That means it is a factor you should take into account in his favour when deciding whether you believe his evidence. In the second place the fact that he is of good character may mean that he is less likely than otherwise might be the case to have committed any offence, let alone an offence as grave as the one with which he is now charged.
I have said that these are matters to which you should have regard in the defendant's favour. It is for you to decide what weight you give to them in this case. In doing so you are entitled to take into account everything you have heard about Mr. Park, which is quite extensive. He is now 61 years old. He was 32 in 1976 and was and is a qualified school teacher with the positive attributes of which witnesses spoke. Having regard to what you know of Mr. Park both before and after 1976, you may think he is entitled to ask you to give considerable weight to his good character when deciding whether the prosecution have satisfied you of his guilt of this charge.
I will return a little later to the point arising out of Mr. Park's admission that he did tell a lie in the Middlesborough Magistrates' Court in 1975.
Let us move on to a different subject. Again I am afraid I am still on directions of principle. Experts. Various experts in this case. The first was Dr. Tapp. You had a statement from Caroline Wilkinson, the lady who did the face reconstruction. There was Mr. Philip is it Rideard or Rydeard. I was never quite sure how he pronounced that. Anyway, there it is. Mr. Ide, the gentleman who spoke about ropes, Dr. Pirrie, Dr. Withers the pathologist, who spoke about Mr. Bank's problems. You heard from Miss Rushton who examined the clothes brought up from Coniston, the statement from Mr. Connolley who examined the remains of Mrs. Park's hands, another statement from Miss Brownbill who examined the plastic strapping material found with the body, Mr. Baxter, the defence forensic scientist and Professor Pye, the defence geologist and maybe a few more, but I think I have got most of them.